Discover how a flavor manufacturing business eliminated the need for manual updates of over 100 records every time a single ingredient was modified.
There are few things more draining than starting your Monday with a realization that you need to manually adjust 87 BOMs due to an increased sweetener cost.
Unfortunately, this was the reality for one flavor manufacturing company.
Whenever there was a change in ingredients - whether due to pricing fluctuations, sourcing challenges, discontinuations, reformulations, or the typical uncertainties of a supply chain environment - their team had to create completely new item records and manually adjust every BOM linked to it.
At times, this required updating between 50 and 100 records individually.
This is acceptable if your preferred pastimes include:
Repetitive tasks
Low-level operational stress
Worrying if you missed something critical
Developing an emotional connection to CSV imports
The “This Cannot Be The Best Way” Challenge
The issue was clear: Manual BOM updates were significantly slowing down the operations process, acting like an inefficiency sundae topped with an operational drag cherry. The burden was not just the labor-intensive work, but also the mental strain involved.
Production teams were dedicating substantial time to mundane ERP upkeep instead of engaging in more valuable production tasks. Staff began postponing updates, anticipating changes were likely just around the corner. Some BOMs even became permanently inaccurate because correcting them was such a cumbersome process.
As the organization expanded, the absurdity of this workflow became increasingly apparent.
Manual workarounds can seem fine initially until they evolve into a larger obstacle than the problem they were designed to resolve - especially in dynamic manufacturing settings where speed and order turnaround are crucial for success.
Recognizing this, the team needed a method to:
Decrease manual efforts
Remove unreliable workarounds
Enhance operational efficiency
Expedite BOM revisions
Develop more scalable workflows within NetSuite
And most importantly, they required a solution that aligned with practical time and budget constraints.
They Reached Out to Versich
The client presented their workflow, highlighted the difficult parts, and essentially asked, “How can we eliminate this problem for good?” These are the types of discussions our team thrives on. After all, there’s something profoundly satisfying about crafting a solution before it escalates into a pressing issue next month.
Our team identified that technically, a different solution was obtainable via CSV imports. Yet, this option carried enough risk to cause considerable anxiety, as one faulty import could lead to an entire night spent manually fixing ERP data while reflecting on why a medical career wasn’t pursued instead.
Instead, we crafted a custom script solution directly within NetSuite. This method was safer, cleaner, more scalable, and automated, with significantly more safeguards against data mishaps.
Plot Twist: The Technical Challenge
Midway through the project, we encountered a technical constraint: Certain BOM revision elements weren’t directly scriptable under the initial method. They required different script triggers to meet the operational workflow demands.
This is typically the moment when poor implementation partners might say, “Well, technically…” (we prefer to avoid that). Instead, the Versich team adjusted and redesigned the solution architecture, opting for workflow action scripts that genuinely supported the necessary functionality for the client.
By pivoting to a script focused on workflow action instead of direct BOM interaction, we not only resolved the immediate issue but also created a more elegant solution. This adjustment allowed the client to utilize the script throughout their system for future operational needs.
The Results: Automated BOM Component Swapping in NetSuite (Less Clicking, More Meaningful Work)
Here’s the truth about employees: they’re real people. They have aspirations and want to contribute to something significant. By creating this suitelet solution, we addressed the client’s manual workflow issues and restored valuable time to their operations team.
Rather than spending hours manually searching through records whenever an ingredient changed, the process became efficient, scalable, and much less susceptible to human error. Updating BOM components across the organization no longer requires a stressful search through NetSuite. This allowed employees to dedicate more focus to meaningful work rather than tedious data entry tasks.
By implementing an automated solution that facilitated quicker updates, the client also experienced a considerable decrease in operational bottlenecks linked to BOM maintenance and “component substitution workflows” (NetSuite terminology).
The impacts included:
Reduced manual ERP administrative hours
Quicker BOM updates
Enhanced consistency across operations
Decreased risk of human error
Fewer workflow delays due to outstanding revisions
More scalable operations for future growth
Fewer manual workarounds and decreased operational friction, coupled with diminished human error risk, led to increased confidence in the NetSuite system overall. This was a significant win for the client, as it meant the operations team regained precious time - something crucial for retaining intelligent staff who prefer engaging in more complex work.
One of Our Favorite Outcomes
Following implementation, the client’s internal NetSuite administrator, who had collaborated closely with us and learned from our modeling, began developing additional Suitelets independently, based on our joint work. In essence, we consulted ourselves out of a job. And this is something we genuinely appreciate.
Our aim has never been to act like Great Aunt Martha, guarding her secret lemon bar recipe so that no one else can replicate it (oddly specific but true). Instead, we want our clients to reach that knowledge sweet spot, where they understand their systems' capabilities and allow us to tackle bigger, more intriguing challenges together in the future.
Interestingly, many teams still seek our assistance because, unsurprisingly, people are busy. However, there's a marked difference between clients expressing, “we don’t grasp this system,” and others saying, “we now see what’s possible.”
The latter group tends to be far more effective.
Our Final Thoughts
Many organizations are unaware of how much operational energy is silently consumed by repetitive ERP tasks until someone finally eliminates them.
Much like an iceberg, manual workflows may appear to function at the surface, but underneath, the reality is:
Employees hesitate to engage with certain processes
Updates are postponed or forgotten
Workarounds accumulate on top of more workarounds
Confidence in the system diminishes, one human error at a time
Teams begin compensating manually
Other priorities remain on the back burner and never receive attention
Typically, this is when companies reach out to us - when the system is still operating slowly while the dedicated individuals inside it feel overwhelmingly fatigued.
Therefore, if your operations team is still dedicating significant portions of their day to manual workflow maintenance within NetSuite, it’s likely that the process can be more intelligently automated.
And no, you won’t need to endure a sales pitch disguised as a discovery call to achieve this. When you engage with us, you’ll interact with a REAL (emphasis intended) consultant, not a business development representative or “solutions evangelist” (the horror), and certainly not someone with only minimal experience who wants to have a “quick chat.”
We provide only genuine, knowledgeable consultants who comprehend manufacturing workflows, operational scaling, automation strategy, and the complex emotional journey that is ERP optimization and implementation.
