How doubling down on data transformed this Aussie manufacturer

SFA’s reputation for design excellence, local manufacturing and dedication to enhancing public spaces is well-established.

The company’s growth revealed weaknesses in its systems, which depended on disconnected, manual spreadsheets and led to missed deadlines, unprofitable products and staff uncertainty.

This fragmented setup caused operational problems that threatened customer satisfaction and team effectiveness.

To fix this, the company pursued a full overhaul, resulting in a successful partnership with AVT and Oracle NetSuite ERP.

Before NetSuite’s implementation, SFA’s on-time delivery rate hovered around 50 per cent. Errors in inventory, quoting and production frequently resulted in costly rework and miscommunication.

“We were adept at manufacturing furniture, engaging with customers and making sales. But coordinating all these elements and ensuring precise timing was incredibly difficult when reliable information was lacking. Data is paramount.”

To facilitate its operational transformation, SFA evaluated four Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms before selecting NetSuite. The deciding factors were the promise of a rapid return on investment and the strong, trusted collaborative partnership forged with AVT.

“We finally had genuine, dependable data, allowing us to make decisions with confidence. It made a profound difference.”

“All our data, from finance, manufacturing, warehousing, sales and marketing, is now consolidated within one system,” he said.

“Everything is linked. Everyone can see what others are working on. If you need a bit of information, you can trace it from a sales order right through to a purchase order. It has become integral to how we operate.”

Previously plagued by unexpected shortages and time-consuming two-week stocktakes, SFA now boasts less than one per cent variance in inventory and has eliminated stockouts on high-volume production runs.

“We used to arrive in the morning to discover two parts we never ordered and jobs would be delayed for months while we air-freighted castings at exorbitant costs,” said Morgan.

“Now, we have a clean, accurate and reliable warehousing system. We are even considering moving to just one annual stocktake, thanks to cycle counting and the built-in controls.”

The shift to NetSuite also brought substantial benefits across engineering, sales and customer service.

NetSuite has accelerated and improved many business processes, with quoting speed and accuracy improved thanks to a new product configurator that standardises sales language and production specs, reducing departmental friction.

Order fulfilment is now a point of pride.

SFA recently delivered 800 seats for Sydney Trains without stockouts or delays, customer complaints have dropped and real-time visibility allows the business to proactively update clients about any potential problems.

Their success story is a testament to the digital maturity underway in Australian manufacturing, where ERP systems like NetSuite are now the operational backbone of data-driven enterprises.

Saddington stresses that this shift is crucial for smaller manufacturers facing complex environments and margin pressures.

Implemented by AVT, NetSuite has helped SFA streamline manufacturing, inventory and customer engagement around shared data, resulting in faster product launches and consistent performance.

Staff trust the system’s accuracy, and as the company looks ahead, its integrated ERP platform provides the confidence to pursue further growth, quality, innovation and precision.

For Australian manufacturers striving for growth without compromising control, SFA stands as a clear example: true clarity stems from interconnectedness and sustainable growth is built upon reliable, trusted data.

Read about this article on Industry Update August 2025 edition (here).

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Oracle NetSuite ERP is a cloud based business platform that provides your business with complete end to end solution and integrated reporting to run your organisation in a streamlined way. With over 32K customers globally, your business can easily deploy and roll out streamlined processes, prebuilt Dashboards, Reports, KPI that can help overcome reporting and operational challenges you are facing today and align your business to meet future needs. Using the APIs, you can easily integrate your ERP data with 3rd Party systems and reduce your data entry administration.

To learn more, AVT – Australia’s Leading NetSuite Solution Provider & Partner has created a complimentary NetSuite ERP Evaluation micro-site to help executives learn more about ERP and its deployment, using pre-recorded process demo videos, White papers and data sheets, so you may evaluate this at your own pace. You can gain access to to the site by completing your Registration in the link: NetSuite Overview Demos.