Manufacturing

The State of Manufacturing: A Survey of Key Business Objectives and Challenges among Mid-Market Manufacturing Companies

During the first quarter of 2011, NetSuite conducted a survey on the state of business within the mid-market manufacturing industry.
The majority of respondents reported significant optimism for growth in the future. More than 75% believe their business will improve in the near term, and almost 98% reported that they believe their business will either improve or remain steady—a dramatic and significant improvement over survey results NetSuite saw in its earlier, 1H10 survey of North American manufacturers. For key objectives, 60% are focused on both revenue growth and cost savings, with about 30% focused primarily on revenue growth only. Maintaining and increasing revenue growth while watching costs and delighting customers are key priorities for manufacturers in 2011.
The optimism among manufacturers has increased significantly from 2009, when companies were focused on cost reductions above all else. The results of this survey indicate that manufacturers are once again focused on investing to create new products and get revenue growing among both new and existing customers.

NetSuite’s Impact on Company Performance

When Nucleus analysts investigated the use of NetSuite by manufacturers, they found these companies were able to accelerate their quote-to-cash cycle and improve visibility, inventory management, and productivity. Analysts also found that automation eliminated costly order fulfillment tasks. Manufacturers that deployed NetSuite drove greater efficiencies while reducing IT costs.