3 ways NetSuite ERP helped a global fragrance manufacturer and supplier

Ashkan Parpinchee

3 ways NetSuite ERP helped a fragrance manufacturer

Learn how NetSuite ERP implementation helped the global manufacturer and supplier of Oxy-Gen Powered™ odor-control and air-freshening systems address pandemic challenges and drive long-term growth.

When COVID-19 shutdowns began in early 2020, companies around the world confronted an entirely new and unanticipated challenge: how to shift operations from on-premises to fully or partially virtual.

Fragrance Delivery Technologies (FDT) faced this exact challenge. FDT manufactures and supplies Oxy-Gen Powered odor-control and air-freshening systems. It is headquartered in Dubai, and it has distribution centers in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, and India as well as a global supply chain. With general stay-at-home orders and some staff confined indefinitely in other countries, the organization had to decide either to find a way to quickly take most of its operations remote or curtail its activities for the foreseeable future – which would result in massive financial losses.

Fortunately, around the time of the shutdowns, FDT began working with Crowe consultants on NetSuite enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation. The NetSuite ERP allowed FDT to adjust to immediate challenges caused by the pandemic while also driving long-term operational improvements. Here are three areas in which the NetSuite ERP implementation offered solutions.

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1. Facilitating virtual implementation

FDT’s personnel previously had used on-premises systems that required being in a physical office or production facility.

Challenge

One of the problems encountered during the NetSuite ERP implementation was that some key project team members from both FDT and Crowe found themselves stuck in other countries. On top of that, the challenge of coordinating virtual meetings proved significant. With locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and the United States – and some employees scattered throughout other countries – planning large meetings around different time zones and other varying circumstances was a major complication.

Solution

The Crowe team’s involvement in the NetSuite ERP implementation helped FDT’s personnel adjust quickly to their new virtual environment. Our team has several years of prior experience working remotely with each other and with clients, and our methodology and communications assisted the company with getting into a virtual-work mindset. Because Crowe LLP and the Crowe Global network have locations in the UAE, India, and the U.S., Crowe personnel could correspond with the client in several time zones and languages. The NetSuite ERP’s functionality also provided a means for FDT’s employees to perform some tasks without being physically present.

2. Improving supply chain visibility

During its engagement with Crowe, FDT served hundreds of customers in more than 60 countries – and these numbers have grown. It also relies on supply chains to bring in critical raw materials and industrial parts.

Challenge

Before implementing the NetSuite ERP, FDT had a loose sense of its global supply chain and distribution networks: how long it took to get key production materials, where its products went, how they were moved, and how long they took to deliver. Because tracking and reporting largely was done manually, it took a lot of time and could occasionally involve human error. Lagging data and an incomplete understanding of these crucial networks became increasingly untenable as FDT continued to grow.

Solution

Once the NetSuite ERP was in place, FDT could monitor global inventory in real time, automate replenishment forecasts, track production lead time more closely, and perform other tasks related to supply chain and distribution – quickly, accurately, and virtually.

3. Enhancing efficiency and scale

Prior to implementation, FDT relied heavily on manual processes and paper-based administration.

Challenge

When the Crowe team first visited FDT’s offices prior to the pandemic, its team showed us a room stacked full of boxes and piles of papers. This, they told us, represented the organization’s accounting records.

Solution

Today, that room has a great deal more space. The implementation of a NetSuite ERP helped FDT improve the efficiency of its accounting processes by allowing staff to digitally input, organize, and access financial data. It also allowed the management team to arrange worker shifts in way that not only optimized the manufacturing process but also helped everyone comply with local COVID-19 rules and restrictions.

Over the long term, the digital and automation capabilities provided by the NetSuite ERP can help FDT scale and continually improve a range of processes as well as collect and analyze higher-quality data. In this way, it can support FDT’s overall vision of growing its business around the world.

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Simon Riley

Simon Riley

Principal, Finance

+1 312 880 4833

Alejandro Alvarez

Alejandro Alvarez

Principal, Consulting

+1 346 308 8507

Ashkan Parpinchee

Ashkan Parpinchee

+971 55 787 7998