Any new investment has a price, but most often, it’s the cost of not implementing the right solution that has the largest impact on an organization.
When it comes to investing in a warehouse management system, what are some of these costs?
You can divide them into two categories: the soft costs (somewhat difficult to measure), and the hard costs (easier to assign a dollar value).
Soft costs include a team that does not feel empowered. When workers are not accountable and autonomous, performance tends to suffer. Left without a method for tracking performance, warehouse managers find it difficult to motivate warehouse personnel.
Or maybe this sounds familiar to you: You print and distribute pick lists, your workers write down their completed tasks, they turn them in at a packing station for further manual processes, and eventually the information is entered into NetSuite. Can you measure the “soft cost” of lost productivity, errors associated with manual data entry, and a lack of real-time visibility into your inventory movement? Hundreds of labor hours are associated with these costs each month.
Hard costs, on the other hand, can be assigned a dollar value with relative ease. There is a hard cost of fines for not complying with federal regulations and traceability. Or for those not in regulated spaces, simple mispicks add up quickly. In fact, mispicks cost companies and average of $400,000 a year from wasted man-hours, extra shipping, excessive production time.
When faced with these costs, integrating an inventory management solution will save you time and money as well as improving inventory accuracy.
Utilizing NetSuite alongside an integrated mobile barcoding solution (like RF-SMART) brings you reliable, real-time information. All your inventory data resides in NetSuite and RF-SMART validates each transaction at the point of activity. Removing touch points and reducing the number of workers who handle products does more than just streamline your business processes – it reduces errors to almost none. Imagine the cost savings to your organization if the right items were picked, packed and shipped the first time.
In light of these figures, can your organization afford not to invest in warehouse management software?
Considering NetSuite and want to see RF-SMART in action?
RF-SMART is a global leader in warehouse management and barcode data collection for NetSuite Wholesale Distribution, eCommerce, Manufacturing and Retail customers. Leveraging barcodes and mobile technology, RF-SMART automates business processes so the production, movement, management and fulfillment of inventory is fast and accurate. Learn more at rfsmart.com.
George Gulliford
