NetSuite adds hyper-intelligence with 2022 R2

NetSuite has announced two key feature improvements that form two of the key features of NetSuite 2022 R2. They are NetSuite Smart Count for Inventory Management and updates to NetSuite Analytics Warehouse. Stock taking and inventory counts have always been a chore across businesses. In many cases, it has meant closing operations to ensure that the stock counts are accurate, potentially losing business. Whilst modern systems aim to reduce the time taken to perform the counts using bar codes and mobile devices, it can still be a painful process.

With this release, NetSuite aims to make stock counts work alongside the business, it captures in real-time and changes to count as items are removed due to picking activities.

Gary Wiessinger, senior vice president, Product Management, Oracle NetSuite, commented: “Inventory counts are an important check-and-balance that ensure records are accurate, but without the right tools in place, they are often expensive, labor-intensive, and time consuming to conduct.

“With NetSuite Smart Count, we are automating the entire process for our customers so that they can quickly and easily validate inventory records to help ensure inventory availability, optimize inventory levels, and return to doing what they love – running their business.”

What is Smart Count

NetSuite Smart Count enables users to carry out stock takes without freezing sections of a warehouse or locations. If something is taken away, the Smart Count application will notify the counters appropriately.

The application includes the following features:

• Administrator Control: Administrators can configure the solution to determine what happens if the on-hand item quantity changes during the counting process.
• Advanced Visibility: Organisations can create count lists based on predefined criteria, business rules, or other factors.
• Automated Recounts: If inventory levels fall below stocking levels the system can trigger a counting task to check if the count is accurate prior to a re-order.
• Centralized Information: With a single view of all items in the counting process, organisations can better manage the process.
• Mobile Access: A mobile application allows the user to scan items, record the number counted and review this against the expected number. Users can pause a count and also see which other items they need to count next. Full details of the new feature are found in a blog.

Enhanced Analytics

NetSuite has also enhanced the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse with this release. It has added new features that enable organisations to ingest data into their data warehouse, make copies, and there are also improvements to KPI visualisations. The NetSuite Analytics Warehouse is built on the powerful Oracle Analytics Cloud and Oracle Autonomous Database for analytics and data warehousing (ADW).

Wiessinger commented: “Despite having more data available, many business leaders feel that decision making is harder than ever. By harnessing the machine learning-powered analytical capabilities of Oracle Analytics Cloud and the highly automated Oracle Autonomous Database for analytics and data warehousing, the enhanced NetSuite Analytics Warehouse provides organizations with relevant and reliable data. As a result, customers are able to streamline the decision-making process to boost productivity and growth.”

What’s new in the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse

The improvements include:

• Custom Attribute Mapping Editor: Customers can now map data within their NetSuite instances that they want to have access to in their data warehouse. During each refresh, the mapped data will flow into the data warehouse to a designated data snapshot, whether that is finance, purchasing, inventory, sales or something else.
• Content Bundle Feature: It is now possible to create and copy bundles of content from one data warehouse to another. In the example given, customers can create a workbook dashboard in the sandbox. Then once satisfied, it is possible to move it from the sandbox to production.
• More Pre-built Subject Matter Data Snapshots: NetSuite has accelerated adoption and time to value with the creation of additional pre-built subject matter data snapshots and key metrics for role-specific business insights. The new capabilities include:
  • Financials Snapshot: Revenue Commitment, Revenue Commitment Reversal, Revenue Arrangement
  • Sales Snapshot: Opportunity and Commission
  • Inventory Snapshot: Inventory Cost Revaluation, Bin Transfer, and Bin Put Away Worksheet.
  • Retail Industry Snapshot: Gross Margins, Spend, and Financials
• Enhanced Vertical Functionality: Services customers can now access a new subscription-centric project management module to optimize revenue management.

Customers are already leveraging the additional benefits and seeing value from it. Cari McCoy, CEO, Clickstop, commented: “Collecting the data and keeping it accurate is important, but it’s insignificant if we aren’t driving meaningful action and decision-making with it. NetSuite Analytics Data Warehouse makes both accurate data collection and strategic decision-making possible.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

These are just two of the new features found within NetSuite 2022 R2. Over the coming days, NetSuite will make available more information about what is contained within the release. However, customers will also be excited to see what is unveiled at SuiteWorld, which is held from September 27-30^th 2022, in Las Vegas.  Early bird registration is available until July 22^nd.

At first glance, this release disappoints. It will be interesting to see what emerges when the full release notes are available. It is slightly unclear how Smart Count interacts with the rest of NetSuite. Also what are the full capabilities of the mobile application? The enhancements to the data warehouse are iterative. While customers will see benefits and it delivers greater value, there is nothing substantially new.