Background

Founded in 1957, Supply Side USA has grown to be the industry leader in packaging, shipping, moving and storage for retail suppliers. Supply Side takes the guesswork out of the retail experience by providing fast-selling products that complement each other. This includes locks, packing tape, protective kits, boxes, and impulse items.

Supply Side provides solutions to over 9,000 customers in the United States and Canada and is considered by its customers to be a valuable merchandising resource. But they do much more than just provide the products that all growing facilities need; they help make customers a retail expert. By providing necessities such as price stickers, reorder tags, product highlight sheets and training tips, Supply Side customers can best assist their customers and keep them coming back.

Supply Side was struggling with the limitations of their legacy software, FACTS, especially when it came to data management. “One of the main limitations [with FACTS] was the handicap that we had on the data side, [and specifically] data, reporting and integration,” explains JZ Zafar, Senior Director of Operations for Supply Side.

Supply Side considered NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, but selected NetSuite because it would better handle Supply Side’s three subsidiary companies. In NetSuite, it’s managed with one instance, where Business Central would have required three instances. NetSuite also has built-in capabilities for multi-company and intercompany transactions, and its Suite Success for distribution and warehousing delivers a unified solution to manage financials and operational processes for distributors, replacing multiple disconnected systems.

NetSuite partner, Velosio, was a recommended implementation partner for Supply Side. “Velosio, we felt, had experience in supply chain and distribution operations, and between the cost structure and the team we were assigned, we ended up making the decision to go with Velosio and NetSuite,” says Zafar.

Implementation and Integrations

Velosio deployed NetSuite for Supply Side for purchasing, financials and reporting, inventory, distribution and warehousing. It is integrated with eCommerce, Amazon, Shopify, third party websites, and EDI for procurement. “When our customers place orders on our website, they funnel into NetSuite, which then customer service forwards over to our WMS, our warehouse fulfills it, and then we go back and invoice them in NetSuite and send out the invoices from there,” describes Zafar. “The AR and the AP side is also managed inside NetSuite,” continues Zafar.

Users were a bit hesitant to use the new system at first but now see the benefits. “Now that we’ve been in it for over a year, the broader team has started to see the bigger picture, and they see the efficiencies and the benefits of having moved to a new ERP,” says Zafar.

System Benefits

Supply Side has benefited from its move to NetSuite in multiple areas of the business. “NetSuite has allowed for comprehensive data management which has helped with projections, strategy and purchasing,” says Zafar. “The biggest benefit is data availability and the way it is presented to us,” continues Zafar. “It’s a major improvement visibility-wise to now always know the stock status, and the status of order fulfillment at any time,” describes Zafar. “Knowing the status of specific items – if they are active or discontinued – the transparency and accessibility to those things has definitely improved, which improves the overall user experience,” continues Zafar.

“Reporting has improved quite a bit because it was a lot harder to extract data out of our incumbent software. With the growth that we’ve seen in our business, NetSuite is definitely the right software in terms of scalability,”- JZ Zafar, Senior Director of Operations for Supply Side.

Supply Side’s customer service team is successfully utilizing the built-in CRM component within NetSuite.

Future Plans

Supply Side is in the process of implementing a warehouse management system (WMS) and transportation management system (TMS), ShipHawk, which was recommended by NetSuite and Velosio. It will seamlessly integrate with NetSuite to expand WMS and TMS capabilities and increase visibility in the warehouse from the moment new items arrive in the warehouse, to looking at pick speed and inventory accuracy, all the way to order throughput and evaluating carrier charges and reconciliation.

Supply Side is also expanding BI capabilities with Power BI dashboards. “As time goes by – probably another six months – we’ll start taking advantage of other untapped features in NetSuite for import purchasing, advanced demand planning, advanced supply planning, and more,” concludes Zafar.

Work With Velosio

Velosio offers a strategic partnership to help you navigate business challenges and prepare for the future. As a trusted partner, we provide technology, services, and guidance tailored to your needs. With deep expertise in Microsoft solutions, we bring fresh ideas and practical knowledge to support your success. Learn how you can work with us to optimize your business solution. Give Velosio a call.