Textile manufacturer transforms warehouse processes with NetSuite WMS

RSM’s deep NetSuite experience helps Eurow & O’Reilly post dramatic improvements

A company’s warehouse is at the heart of its operations. Effective supply chain strategies provide insight into inventory levels and keep products moving in and out on time to maintain customer satisfaction. But warehouse operations can become increasingly complex as organizations grow and more products need to be managed and stored and more volume flows through the supply chain. In many cases, companies require adjustments to their technology foundation to scale with growth and keep up with current and future demand.

Eurow & O’Reilly Corporation is one of the United States’ largest manufacturers and suppliers of microfiber textiles and cleaning products, providing products to some of the world’s most well-known retailers as well as directly to consumers. Over 30 years, the company’s catalog has grown to include hundreds of products through eight distinct brands, shipping primarily from a 60,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Simi Valley, California.

However, as Eurow & O’Reilly’s business expanded, it began to outgrow its existing manual warehouse management processes and encounter issues many warehouses faced with tracking and inventory accuracy. The company understood that in order to keep pace with its current growth and future goals, it required a more effective and scalable warehouse management system.

“As we picked orders, the discrepancies in our stock were becoming high,” commented Anand Mohan Singh, Eurow & O’Reilly warehouse manager. “Many orders were back-ordered because our system said we had stock, but it physically was not there. If we were looking for a product, we had to go to a person and depend on their memory. And that takes time.”

Tailoring a transformative solution

The company already utilized NetSuite for many of its critical business management processes, and they turned to RSM US LLP to implement NetSuite’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to automate warehouse operations and integrate data directly into the existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

The RSM team met with several key Eurow & O’Reilly stakeholders, including their chief operating officer, warehouse manager, materials manager and e-commerce manager, to understand the company’s pain points and design a comprehensive solution.

RSM integrated NetSuite WMS to enhance both inbound and outbound warehouse operations. From an inbound perspective, users can accurately receive items by simply scanning their movement. RSM established controls to help ensure employees scan everything rather than having an option to enter the number of pallets they are moving. The lack of manual intervention helps to increase efficiency and accuracy.

“Efficiency is very high right now,” commented Singh. “I can do 30% more work without adding anyone else to my team.” 

For outbound orders, warehouse operators now pick, pack and ship orders with the ability to scan items from anywhere on the floor. Scanning reduces manual data entry and enables the company to utilize their warehouse and team fully.

After RSM’s NetSuite WMS implementation, Eurow & O’Reilly’s warehouse operations were transformed, dramatically increasing efficiency throughout. With tailored picking and packing strategies, a pack station application and new mobile operators’ scanning processes in NetSuite WMS, warehouse operations are streamlined and accurate real-time inventory is readily available.

“In terms of stock accuracy, now I don’t have a single order that goes to back order because of a system discrepancy—all of our orders are being fulfilled,” said Singh. “NetSuite WMS delivered a nine-fold improvement in absolute value discrepancy. Right now, I am running at a 0.2% discrepancy in terms of value. That is a massive accuracy improvement.”

The power of experience and a strong relationship

Singh feels that RSM’s NetSuite experience was critical to the project’s success. “The previous implementation experiences of RSM helped us a lot and eased the process,” he said. “We did not have to do any trial and error, we got concrete answers to any questions we had, and testing was very fast because of RSM’s past NetSuite experience. When you go to an implementation partner, that is what you look for.”

In addition, the speed of RSM’s NetSuite WMS implementation helped Eurow & O’Reilly hit the ground running and quickly realize the benefits of their optimized warehouse operations.

“RSM’s proficiency with NetSuite WMS made the project very fast,” said Singh. “Finishing a NetSuite WMS implementation within 90 days is a big deal. That isn’t easy, but RSM already had templates and processes ready to go. That really helped us a lot.”    

Another key element of the successful engagement was the strong relationship and trust built between the two companies.

“They (Eurow & O’Reilly) have a family environment, and once I started working with them, I was integrated into their work style,” said Blair Schuyler, RSM senior associate. “They brought me into their family, and I feel like we were working together toward the same goal rather than as two different teams.”

Following the successful NetSuite WMS implementation, the relationship has continued between Eurow & O’Reilly and RSM. For example, RSM has worked with Eurow & O’Reilly to increase visibility between the warehouse and finance and optimize specific features and applications within NetSuite after new updates and product releases.  

A strong foundation for growth

With NetSuite WMS in place, Eurow & O’Reilly has replaced its previous manual warehouse processes with enhanced automation that can comfortably scale with growth. The increased accuracy and efficiency mean that orders can be fulfilled and shipped on time every time, leading to increased consumer confidence and business growth.