Fisk Industries Case Study

Supplying both the retail and consumer markets, Fisk Industries had thousands of SKUs, and inventory accuracy was incredibly important for picking orders efficiently and correctly. Fisk put a plan in place for a Cloud-based operation with RF-SMART and NetSuite.

 

Fisk Industries is a manufacturer and distributor of personal care and beauty products with its mission to “deliver high quality, creative products with speed to market. Fisk knew it needed a cloud-based initiative to be competitive and stay ahead of the market.

STEP 1: Make over warehouse management system

Implementing in 2008, Fisk was one of the first NetSuite customers. The inventory accuracy gained from implementing NetSuite allowed Fisk to deliver what the customer wanted, when they wanted it. Looking to gain even more, the team at Fisk also implemented a separate warehouse management system. This solution was not as successful as NetSuite though. “It was very cumbersome and didn’t lead to an accurate inventory,” said Bruce Meyer, COO at Fisk. Only boosting inventory accuracy to 85%, the previous system did not have real-time integration to NetSuite and required Fisk personnel to oversee it via manual updates.

Needing to eliminate stock-outs and the inability to fulfill purchase orders, Bruce searched for a user-friendly barcoding solution. “It is incredibly important to have inventory accuracy and to pick orders efficently and correctly. To do this, we needed a robust scanning system that would help us identify where product is at all times,” said Bruce. 

STEP 2: Choose a high quality barcode solution

Comparing two leading solutions on the market, the team at Fisk chose RF-SMART as their business partner to better control inventory and add efficiency with order fulfillment. Moving off a disjointed WMS, Fisk needed a solution that integrated seamlessly and in real-time to NetSuite, and RF-SMART was the right choice because of its Built-for-NetSuite certification. “I feel like RF-SMART is just an extension of NetSuite,” said Bruce. What’s more, RF-SMART is flexible to allow the team at Fisk to run their warehouse as they see fit, instead of abiding by system-enforced rules.

STEP 3: Enjoy the results

Fisk uses RF-SMART for all picking, receiving, item transfers, and cycle counts. “The beauty of RF-SMART is that it is part of our team,” said Bruce. “We input a sales order, RF-SMART then prompts us to the item location, and our users pick efficiently and effectively - all in real-time.” Real-time picking takes items out of the bin the moment they are picked. “One of the great functions of RF-SMART is that it moves the order status from pending fulfillment to picked,” Bruce said. This allows Fisk to know the status of all orders at any given time. RF-SMART functionality has also allowed Fisk to improve order fulfillment, from 5 days to same day.

“Inventory accuracy is a big win,” said Bruce. Improving inventory accuracy from 85% to 98%, Fisk is no longer experiencing stock outs or failing to complete purchase orders. On-the-fly cycle counts and bin management have also brought increased efficiency. “Bin management allows us to move product between bins to allow for replenishment,” said Bruce. “It’s an incredible time-savings. We’ve been able to improve our performance and reduce staff.”

WMS Made for Retail

In an industry where high turnover is common, it was essential that their barcoding solution be quick and easy. “RF-SMART is incredibly easy; I love the intuitiveness of it,” said Bruce. Training is simple because RF-SMART can run on handhelds with a similar look and feel to most smart phones, so users are instantly comfortable with scanning and completing transactions. Implementation was also easy. Compared to a system that took over 4 months to implement, RF-SMART took one afternoon. “It was fantastic,” said Bruce. 

Read More: Managing Inventory in NetSuite - What Health and Beauty Retailers Need to Know

Beautiful partnership

As to what lies in store for Fisk, the future is bright. They have purchased a manufacturing facility and plan to implement RF-SMART for work order issues and completions. They are also actively looking into RF-SMART’s Packing Station to see what additional efficiencies might be gained. From an operating standpoint, Bruce knew RF-SMART would be more cost-effective, more efficient and lead to a better inventory, but he never expected the deep partnership that developed.

 “The ease of operation and the improvement to our customer service made RF-SMART a smart investment,” said Bruce. “More than that, RF-SMART is dedicated to our success. Our company will be able to grow in the future with RF-SMART, and I consider them my partner in running my business.”

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“The ease of operation and the improvement to our customer service made RF-SMART a smart investment... More than that, RF-SMART is dedicated to our success. Our company will be able to grow in the future with RF-SMART, and I consider them my partner in running my business.”

Read how RF-SMART helped Fisk Industries manage their thousands of SKUs and improve inventory accuracy.

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