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NetSuite enters SAP's core market with new on-demand vertical suite for manufacturers

NetSuite Expands Lead in Vertical Suites by Leveraging Core Strength In Wholesale / Distribution to Tackle Demands of Light Manufacturing

SAN MATEO, Calif.,—June 12, 2008—NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), a leading vendor of on-demand, integrated business management software suites for the mid-market enterprise and divisions of large companies, today announced a new vertical suite for manufacturing companies. NetSuite for Manufacturers, which includes new functionality for Assembly, Work Order and Bill of Materials, takes aim at SAP's core market and seeks to exploit the prolonged delay of SAP's Business ByDesign product roll-out, providing mid-sized manufacturers with an integrated on-demand solution they can put to work today.

" NetSuite has been offering vertical suites for the wholesale / distribution industry for a while with a proven track record," said Bruce Richardson, Chief Research Officer, AMR Research. "Manufacturers have been longing for SaaS offerings to build better overall total cost-of-ownership. Until this release from NetSuite, there haven't been any broad SaaS product offerings that include financials, CRM, Ecommerce and manufacturing. The on-demand suite approach—pioneered by NetSuite—could prove to be a major market accelerator."

Today's new release leverages the core strength of the NetSuite Wholesale / Distribution Edition—launched in April 2006—and is a natural progression of NetSuite's leading role in delivering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business suites designed to address the specific requirements of vertical industries. NetSuite's offering for manufacturing, initially aimed at the light manufacturing sector, is also the latest example of how NetSuite's SaaS-based business management technology has evolved to address more complex processes in industries long dominated by on-premise vendors such as SAP. The company's rapid move into manufacturing comes at a difficult time for SAP, as they have struggled to deliver their own on-demand offering, Business ByDesign, to address customer requirements in their core market. NetSuite for Manufacturers now gives SAP customers and others an option they can purchase and deploy without delay. For more information about NetSuite for Manufacturers, please visit www.netsuite.co.uk/manufacturing.

Manufacturers Have Varying Challenges
Light manufacturing businesses typically overlap with wholesale / distribution and span a huge spectrum of categories from apparel to furniture to small electronics. Regardless of which category a light manufacturer is in, the challenge has always been the management of the bill of materials, assembly build and work order process for both production orders that add to general stock levels, as well as special orders built uniquely for one customer. Software traditionally used by mid-market light manufacturing companies encompasses dozens of on-premise silo applications—one for accounting, one for customer relationship management, one for work orders, one for inventory management, one for warehouse management. The list goes on. This fragmented approach can add large IT cost, introduce a high rate of errors throughout the business process, provides little visibility on available-to-promise inventory, and decrease business efficiency and accuracy.

Enterprise Power at Lower Total Cost-of-Ownership
NetSuite for Manufacturers provides companies with essential visibility into the key build processes that light manufacturers need to compete effectively in the market. Since NetSuite's delivery model is SaaS and all functionality and data is within one system, the total-cost-of-ownership is greatly reduced and light manufacturers gain the following benefits:

  • Greater insight into production processes—from inventory, to assembly, to demand based replenishment;
  • Real-time visibility throughout the entire organisation—from sales to warehouse operations to invoicing;
  • Minimal integration hassle—NetSuite provides one system to manage the end-to-end business life-cycle;
  • Cost savings—reduced IT costs, reduced labor costs and reduced errors;
  • Reduced risk—instant information can help reduce time to respond to change;
  • Stay competitive in the ever competitive global economy for light manufacturers.

Powerful Functionality Key to Light Manufacturers
NetSuite adds a myriad of important functionality that is key to running a light manufacturing business. The new features unveiled today include:

  • Assembly Management—building on NetSuite's core strength in inventory and warehouse management, assembly items have been extended specifically for light manufacturers which enable companies to more effectively manage component quantities and multi-level assemblies. Assemblies are closely tied with work orders and allow for multi-level assemblies to be built one level at a time, or all at once.
  • Work Orders—new work order capabilities allow light manufacturers to readily manage the build process for production work orders to replenish standing inventory levels of finished goods or special order work orders built to exact specifications for a particular customer. For example, a furniture light manufacturer may have standard sized wood or glass-top dining tables they build on an on-going basis, but they may also offer custom-sized dining tables as a special order for individual customers.
  • Bill of Materials (BOM)—any build process requires a bill of materials that outlines what components are required to successfully build the finished good. BOMs are tightly coupled with both assemblies and work orders and cover the components required for a single assembly plus all the components required by a particular work order. Assembly instructions can also be included in the printable BOM in PDF format.
  • Demand-Based Inventory Replenishment—light manufacturers can now dynamically set re-order points and preferred stock-levels for both components of assemblies as well as finished goods based on a variety of factors including average lead time, historical or seasonal sales demand, and number of days from supply to stock. Work orders drive the demand for components as they are completed, thereby automating the replenishment of source materials and components.

"Today's launch of NetSuite for Manufacturers validates our strong commitment to vertical industries by delivering functionality designed to drive greater efficiencies and competitiveness," said Mini Peiris, NetSuite's VP of Product Marketing. "NetSuite enables manufacturers to automate complex business processes without the cost and complexity of cobbling together multiple business applications, and numerous spreadsheets. As a result, customers can stop wasting precious resources and start focusing on increasing customer service levels, cutting costs, and growing their businesses."

Pricing and Availability
NetSuite for Manufacturers is available now at $999 per month and $99 per user per month.

For more information about NetSuite Inc., please visit www.netsuite.co.uk.

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are registered service marks of NetSuite Inc.