[Cloud Solutions Spotlight] Why Do Planners Still Rely on Excel Even After Implementing Oracle NetSuite MRP?

In the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises, MRP (Material Requirements Planning) is a core capability that virtually every company encounters.

Many companies activate MRP functionality simultaneously with the implementation of their ERP systems, hoping that the system will automatically calculate procurement, production and inventory requirements, thereby improving planning accuracy and reducing stock levels.

However, an interesting phenomenon frequently arises:

Although the ERP system has been in place for many years and MRP is operational, planners’ desks remain cluttered with Excel spreadsheets.

Order changes require manual adjustments;

purchasing requirements need to be manually verified;

substitute materials require judgement based on experience;

and multi-site planning still relies on manual consolidation.

Why is this the case?

The problem often lies not in the absence of MRP, but in the fact that the actual business scenarios faced by companies have long since exceeded the scope of standard MRP.

When Standard MRP Meets Chinese Manufacturing

As a mature, global solution, Oracle NetSuite’s native MRP has already helped numerous companies establish standardised supply chain planning systems.

It can automatically generate replenishment recommendations and production plans based on inventory, demand, procurement and production data, enabling coordinated supply chain operations.

For standardised production scenarios, this is already an excellent planning tool.

However, for many Chinese manufacturing enterprises, the complexity of planning management far exceeds that of standard scenarios.

For example:

Make-to-order production under OEM and ODM models;

Small-batch, high-variety order structures;

Frequent customer rush orders and order changes;

co-ordinated production across multiple factories;

substitute material management;

supplier minimum order quantity (MOQ) restrictions;

precise correspondence between orders and work orders.

These issues arise on a daily basis.

The real challenge facing planners is often not whether ‘the system can perform the calculations’, but rather:

‘Do the results generated by the system align with actual business logic?’

Consequently, we frequently encounter situations such as:

The system generates a procurement recommendation, but the planner still needs to export the data to Excel for re-analysis;

The system tells you that 500 units of a particular material need to be procured, but cannot explain which orders these 500 units of demand actually come from;

When an order changes, the planner needs to recalculate the scope of the impact;

The procurement and planning departments each maintain different versions of the data.

The ERP system is up and running, but planning work remains heavily reliant on manual expertise.

What enterprises truly need is more than just MRP

As manufacturing models evolve, so too do enterprises’ requirements for planning systems.

In the past, the core demand was:

“Help me work out what I need to buy.”

Today, however, more enterprises are concerned with:

“Why do I need to buy it?”

“Where does the demand come from?”

“What impact will changes to orders have?”

“Can planning be standardised across multiple factories?”

This means that enterprises no longer require merely computational capabilities, but rather planning management capabilities that are more closely aligned with business scenarios.

A planning system must be able to understand a company’s production model.

It must understand order-driven manufacturing logic.

It must understand the procurement and production management practices commonly found in Chinese manufacturing enterprises.

An Enhanced MRP Solution Based on Oracle NetSuite

Drawing on extensive practical experience from projects with manufacturing enterprises, Hitpoint Cloud has launched the Hitpoint MRP APP, built upon Oracle NetSuite’s native MRP.

Our aim is not to replace Oracle NetSuite.

Quite the contrary.

The Hitpoint MRP APP retains Oracle NetSuite’s original data architecture and business processes, whilst further enhancing planning capabilities to ensure the system better adapts to the practical needs of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.

For example:

Support for MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) control;

Support for substitute material logic;

Support for order-to-work order traceability;

Support for Make-to-Order (MTO) production;

Support for unified planning across multiple factories;

Support for multi-version simulation and plan comparison;

Supports analysis of supply-demand variances;

Supports traceability of purchase requisitions and purchase orders.

The value of these capabilities lies not merely in the number of functions.

More importantly, they enable planning management to gradually shift from being ‘experience-driven’ to ‘system-driven’.

From seeing the results to understanding the causes

Many planning systems can tell a company:

‘You need to purchase 100 units.’

But what the company really wants to know is:

Why 100 units?

Which orders do these 100 units come from?

Which BOM levels do they originate from?

What impact would the cancellation of a particular customer order have?

Which procurement requirements can be consolidated?

Which requirements must be tracked separately?

For planners, these questions are often more important than the calculated results themselves.

Therefore, the Hitpoint MRP APP focuses not only on the calculated results, but also on the logic and sources behind them.

It enables planning departments, procurement teams and management to see the entire process by which demand is generated.

From ‘knowing the results’ to ‘understanding the results’.

From ‘identifying problems’ to ‘pinpointing the causes’.

The next step in planning management for manufacturing enterprises

As the global supply chain environment continues to evolve, manufacturing enterprises are placing ever-higher demands on planning capabilities.

Future MRP systems must not only calculate faster, but also understand the business.

They must not only generate results, but also support decision-making.

For enterprises already using Oracle NetSuite, how to further meet the planning needs of the Chinese manufacturing landscape whilst retaining the advantages of a global platform is becoming a topic of increasing concern for more and more companies.

This is precisely the rationale behind Hitpoint Cloud’s ongoing investment in SuiteApp product development.

We aim to ensure that Oracle NetSuite is not only a platform for global operations, but also a digital foundation that is truly tailored to the management needs of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.