The Smart Count feature in NetSuite is a new inventory management tool that provides real-time visibility into inventory. It ensures that businesses have the right products in stock, at the right time, and in the right quantities. With Smart Count, businesses can quickly and accurately count items in their inventory, reducing the time and effort required for manual counting and minimizing the risk of errors.
How Does Smart Count In NetSuite Work?
This feature uses barcode scanning and mobile devices to streamline the counting process. The automation makes it easier and faster to conduct physical counts of your stock. The resulting data then automatically synchronizes with NetSuite, providing an up-to-date view of your products and helping businesses to make informed decisions about their operations.
Smart Count is quite user-friendly, with a simple and intuitive interface that requires minimal training. It also integrates with other NetSuite features, like the Item Fulfillment and Purchasing modules, to provide a complete view of inventory data and help businesses to manage their operations better.
Expanded Smart Count Features
Administrator Control: Aids firms in managing their counts without hindering sales by enabling administrators to see in real-time what happens during on-hand quantity changes for items during the counting process.
Transparency: This feature automates the counting process by giving out lists of items that need counting with the help of predefined criteria, business rules, and key drivers.
Automatic Recounts: You may need to recount at any given time. This helps organizations minimize unnecessary hindrances by automatically stimulating a count to check the accuracy of the bin if the inventory level falls below the reorder level.
Central Information: Visibility is one of the key factors in its offering. This smart count feature aids organizations in efficiently managing the cycle counting process.
Remote/Mobile Access: remote/mobile access aids organizations in increasing the accuracy of their Count and reducing the time to complete the entire process by using a handheld mobile device and barcodes.
Installing the Smart Count SuiteApp
The Smart Count SuiteApp, a paid and managed application, automatically updates for new features. Contact your NetSuite account manager to provision the Smart Count Foundation bundle before installation.
To install the Smart Count Foundation bundle:
- Go to Customization > SuiteBundler > Search & Install Bundles
- In the Keywords field, enter Smart Count Foundation.
- Click the Smart Count Foundation link.
- On the Bundle Details page, click Install.
- On the Preview Bundle Install page, click Install Bundle.
- Click OK.
After installing the Smart Count Foundation bundle, perform the following steps to install the Smart Count SuiteApp from the SuiteApp Marketplace.
To install the Smart Count SuiteApp:
- Go to SuiteApps.
- In the Search Apps field, enter Smart Count.
- Click the SuiteApp tile.
- On the SuiteApp Details page, click Install.
- Click OK.
Smart Count Roles and Permissions in NetSuite
Smart Count SuiteApp includes specific roles and permissions to manage and perform inventory counts effectively.
Smart Count Inventory Manager
Role Overview:
- The primary role responsible for configuring and managing the Smart Count preferences at both the company and item level.
Key Permissions:
- Set up and manage preferences: Configure company-level and item-level inventory count settings.
- Override settings: Ability to override manual count entries and set tolerances.
- Manage updates: Handle automatic updates and enhancements for the SuiteApp.
Setting Up Smart Count Preferences
The Smart Count SuiteApp allows you to set preferences at the item and company levels, with only the Smart Count Inventory Manager role able to configure these settings.
Company Level Preferences:
- Force Blind Count: Prevents counters from seeing expected inventory quantities.
- Allow Manual Count Entry: Allows counters to manually enter quantities.
- Complete and Next: Adds a button for moving to the next item in the count.
- Default Action for On-Hand Change During Count: Sets default actions for quantity changes.
- Ignore Serial/Lot Number Until Variance: Allows counting without entering serial/lot numbers unless a variance is detected.
- Enable Advanced Bar Code Scanning: Enables GS1 barcode scanning for WMS users.
- Set Next Inventory Count Date for Spot Count: Automatically sets the next count date.
- Account for Spot Count Variance: Selects an account for posting count variances.
- Auto Approve Variance Within Tolerance: Automatically approves variances within defined tolerances.
- Quantity/Amount Tolerance: Sets tolerance values requiring approval when exceeded.
To configure company-level preferences: Go to Setup > Smart Count > Preferences, set the required preferences, and click Save.
Item Level Preferences:
- Ignore Serial/Lot Number Until Variance: Similar to the company level but specific to items.
- Restrict Manual Count Entry: Restricts manual entry for specific items.
- Quantity/Amount Tolerance: Sets tolerance values specific to items.
To configure item-level preferences: Go to an item record, click the Smart Count subtab, set preferences, and click Save.
The Smart Count SuiteApp checks tolerances first at the item location level and defaults to company-level settings if none are set. This helps in inventory planning by validating tolerances at the item, bin, and inventory status levels.
Conclusion
Smart Count in NetSuite streamlines inventory management with real-time visibility and mobile barcode scanning, reducing manual effort and errors. It integrates seamlessly with other NetSuite features and offers user-friendly controls. This enhances inventory accuracy and efficiency, helping businesses maintain optimal stock levels and make informed decisions.
