Your ERP holds a wealth of information about your business. It records sales, inventory levels, purchasing activity and supplier details, giving your team a central view of day-to-day operations. But when it comes to deciding what inventory to buy, how much inventory to hold, and how to respond to changing demand, ERP data alone may not provide all the planning capabilities your business needs.
That’s where supply and demand planning software comes in.
Netstock integrates with your existing ERP to turn operational data into practical inventory planning recommendations. Our AI-powered platform helps small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) improve demand forecasting, set appropriate inventory levels, identify potential shortages and excess, and make more informed replenishment decisions. Your ERP remains the system of record, while Netstock adds a dedicated planning layer to support better decisions.
For SMBs evaluating planning software, ERP compatibility is an important starting point. You need to understand which systems are supported, what information is shared, how the integration works, and what your team can expect during implementation.
This guide explains how Netstock ERP integration works, which ERP systems it supports, what data is exchanged and how an integrated planning platform can help your business get more value from its existing technology.
Key takeaways
- Netstock works alongside your ERP. It adds AI-powered demand forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment planning without replacing your existing system.
- Integration connects operational data with planning decisions. Netstock uses information such as sales history, inventory levels, open purchase orders and supplier details to generate recommendations.
- ERP compatibility matters. Netstock integrates with systems including NetSuite, Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage and SAP Business One.
- Planning recommendations support better inventory decisions. Your planners can identify potential shortages, excess inventory and replenishment requirements, then act on recommendations within their established workflows.
Which supply and demand planning software integrates with your ERP?
Netstock is an AI-powered supply and demand planning platform integrating with a range of leading ERP systems, including NetSuite, Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage and SAP Business One.
The integration gives Netstock access to the operational data held in your ERP, including historical sales, current inventory positions, purchasing information and supplier details. It uses this information to generate demand forecasts, calculate inventory requirements, identify potential risks and recommend replenishment actions.
The result is an additional planning capability that works alongside your existing business systems. Your ERP continues to manage core transactions and business records, while Netstock helps your team make supply chain decisions faster about inventory and supply.
Because Netstock works from your live ERP data, it recalculates risk daily at SKU level. Its recommendations draw on 15 years of inventory planning expertise and a 42TB proprietary SMB supply chain dataset, the largest of its kind. Its AI-powered capabilities help planners spot patterns, assess exceptions and prioritize actions across their inventory.
“The AI Opportunities shows potential stock-outs that could become an issue if I don’t take action. – Distributor Wire & Cable
How does Netstock ERP integration work?
An ERP integration connects the information your business already collects with the planning capabilities needed to make data-driven decisions. While the technical setup can vary depending on the ERP, business environment, and industry, the process generally involves four stages.
1. Connecting your ERP and accessing business data
The first step is establishing a connection between your ERP and Netstock. This gives the platform access to the information needed for supply and demand planning.
Depending on the ERP and integration configuration, this can include:
- Historical sales and demand data
- Current inventory levels and locations
- Product and item master records
- Open purchase orders
- Supplier information and lead times
- Existing inventory policies and parameters
The quality and consistency of this information matter. Accurate item records, reliable sales history and up-to-date supplier details give the planning platform a stronger foundation for its recommendations.
“The hours we used to spend on manual work alone cost us more than what we now pay for Netstock. That alone justifies the value Netstock adds. Beyond the time savings, it’s given us the structure and visibility to easily identify expiry stock, slow movers, and excess, making it a far more effective way of working.” – Downtown Duty Free
2. Turning ERP data into forecasts and inventory policies
Once the relevant data is available, we use it to assess demand patterns and inventory requirements.
The platform analyzes historical demand, seasonality, variability and other relevant factors to support more accurate forecasting. It also helps businesses establish inventory policies that account for factors such as supplier lead times, service requirements and demand fluctuations.
Safety stock requirements can be recalculated daily at the SKU and location level, helping businesses respond to changing demand and supply conditions.
3. Identifying inventory risk and generating recommendations
Netstock assesses inventory positions to identify potential shortages, excess inventory and other planning exceptions.
Its AI-powered capabilities help surface opportunities and risks across individual SKUs and locations. This allows planners to focus their attention on the items that need it most, rather than manually working through large volumes of data.
The platform provides recommendations that support decisions around replenishment, inventory levels and excess inventory. Planners remain involved in reviewing those recommendations and applying their knowledge of suppliers, customers and business priorities.
4. Synchronizing approved actions with your ERP
Once planners have reviewed and approved the recommended actions, the relevant information can be synchronized with the ERP where the integration supports it.
This helps connect planning decisions with purchasing and operational workflows. The specific information that can be written back, and how that process works, depends on the ERP and its connector configuration.
Which ERP systems does Netstock integrate with?
Netstock integrates with a range of ERP systems used by SMBs. Five examples include:
| ERP system | Overview |
| NetSuite | Cloud ERP and financial management |
| Acumatica | Cloud ERP for growing businesses |
| Microsoft Dynamics | ERP and business management solutions |
| Sage | ERP, accounting and business management software |
| SAP Business One | ERP designed for small and midsize businesses |
You can explore our ERP integrations directory for further information about supported systems.
Does Netstock integrate with NetSuite?
Netstock integrates with NetSuite to add dedicated inventory and supply planning capabilities to the ERP environment.
NetSuite manages core business processes and transactional data. Netstock uses relevant information from the system to support demand forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment planning.
This helps NetSuite users make more informed purchasing decisions, assess inventory requirements and identify potential shortages or excess inventory.
Learn more about Netstock’s NetSuite integration
Does Netstock integrate with Acumatica?
Netstock integrates with Acumatica, giving businesses using the cloud ERP access to additional demand planning and inventory optimization capabilities.
The integration allows Netstock to use relevant sales, inventory and purchasing data to generate forecasts and inventory recommendations. This can be particularly useful for businesses managing a growing product range, multiple locations or changing supplier lead times.
Does Netstock integrate with Microsoft Dynamics?
Netstock integrates with Microsoft Dynamics environments, helping businesses extend their ERP with specialized supply and demand planning capabilities.
The integration connects relevant operational data with Netstock’s forecasting and inventory planning tools. As Microsoft Dynamics covers different products and configurations, businesses should confirm compatibility with their specific version and environment.
Does Netstock integrate with Sage?
Netstock integrates with supported Sage ERP environments to help businesses improve demand forecasting, inventory planning and replenishment decisions.
By using information from the ERP, Netstock can help planners assess inventory requirements, account for demand patterns and identify items that may need attention.
The specific integration available will depend on the Sage product and configuration being used.
Does Netstock integrate with SAP Business One?
Netstock integrates with SAP Business One, adding specialized inventory and supply-planning capabilities to the ERP.
SAP Business One provides the core business and transactional information. Netstock uses relevant data from the system to support forecasting, inventory optimization and replenishment planning.
This gives businesses a dedicated environment for reviewing inventory requirements and making purchasing decisions while continuing to use SAP Business One for their core operations.
What data moves between Netstock and an ERP?
An effective integration needs access to the information that influences demand, supply and inventory decisions. The exact data available depends on the ERP system and connector, but common data categories include:
| Data type | How Netstock uses it |
| Historical sales | Identifies demand patterns and supports forecasting |
| Current inventory levels | Assesses available inventory and potential shortages |
| Open purchase orders | Provides visibility into incoming supply |
| Supplier information | Helps account for supplier lead times and purchasing requirements |
| Item master data | Provides product details needed for planning |
| Inventory policies | Supports the calculation and review of inventory requirements |
Bringing these data points together gives planners a more complete view of inventory and supply requirements.
What information is synchronized back to the ERP?
Depending on the integration, approved planning and replenishment actions can be passed back to the ERP to support purchasing workflows.
The exact write-back functionality varies by system and connector. Businesses should confirm which transactions and fields are supported during the integration assessment, particularly if they have specific approval processes or purchasing requirements.
How long does it take to integrate an ERP with Netstock?
The time required to integrate an ERP with Netstock depends on several factors, including the ERP environment, data quality, business complexity and the level of configuration required.
A typical implementation involves five stages:
- Discovery: The implementation team reviews the business’s planning requirements, ERP environment and existing processes.
- Data review and refinement: Relevant data is assessed to identify inconsistencies, gaps or issues that could affect planning results.
- Configuration and learning: Netstock is configured to reflect the business’s inventory requirements, planning parameters and operating environment.
- Validation and testing: The team reviews the data, forecasts and recommendations to ensure the platform is working as expected.
- Adoption: Planners become familiar with the platform and incorporate its recommendations into their regular workflows.
The process is influenced by how prepared the business’s data is, how complex its operations are and how quickly the relevant teams can complete their part of the implementation.
For an accurate estimate, businesses should discuss their specific ERP environment and requirements with Netstock.
What is the difference between an ERP and supply and demand planning software?
ERP software and supply and demand planning software serve different, complementary purposes.
An ERP system brings together core business processes such as finance, sales, purchasing, inventory records and order management. It provides the transactional foundation for running the business.
Supply and demand planning software focuses on using business data to improve decisions about future demand, inventory requirements and replenishment. It provides specialist forecasting and planning capabilities that may not be available at the same level of detail in an ERP.
| Business requirement | ERP system | Netstock |
| Transaction processing | Core capability | Uses relevant ERP information |
| Inventory records | Maintains inventory records | Analyzes inventory positions |
| Historical sales data | Records sales transactions | Uses sales history to support forecasting |
| Demand forecasting | Depends on ERP functionality | Provides specialist forecasting capabilities |
| Safety stock optimization | Depends on ERP functionality | Supports inventory policy and safety stock calculations |
| Inventory risk identification | Provides operational inventory visibility | Identifies potential shortages and excess |
| Replenishment recommendations | Supports purchasing workflows | Recommends inventory replenishment actions |
| Purchase order execution | Manages purchasing transactions | Supports planning decisions that feed purchasing workflows |
The two systems work together. Netstock uses ERP data to provide planning recommendations, while the ERP remains the central system for managing business transactions.
For a closer look at how the two technologies complement each other, read The synergy of ERP and demand planning software.
What are the benefits of integrating supply and demand planning software with an ERP?
Your ERP data shows what has happened in your business. Integrated planning software uses that same data to show what to do next, without your team having to extract, clean and analyze it by hand first.
Planning from live ERP data instead of spreadsheets
Without an integration, planners often export ERP data into spreadsheets to build forecasts and work out order quantities. That takes time, introduces errors, and leaves the plan out of date as soon as the export is done.
An integration gives planning and purchasing the same, regularly updated data. Where write-back is supported, approved orders can be passed back to the ERP without being keyed in again.
Better inventory availability and customer service
When planners have access to reliable demand forecasts and up-to-date inventory information, they can make more informed decisions about what to replenish and when.
This helps businesses anticipate potential shortages, account for changing demand and maintain appropriate inventory levels for customer requirements.
Reduced excess inventory and improved working capital
Holding too much inventory ties up working capital and increases the costs associated with storage, handling and obsolescence.
Inventory optimization helps businesses assess how much inventory they need to meet demand without holding unnecessary quantities. By identifying excess inventory and adjusting replenishment policies, planners can make better use of available working capital.
More efficient inventory planning
Managing inventory across a large product range can involve substantial manual analysis. Planners may need to review sales trends, supplier lead times, inventory positions and purchasing requirements across hundreds or thousands of SKUs.
Netstock brings these factors together and highlights items that need attention. This helps planners prioritize their time and spend less effort manually compiling information.
Greater value from existing ERP investments
Replacing an ERP system is a significant undertaking. Businesses have invested time and resources in configuring their systems, training employees and establishing processes.
Integrating specialist planning software allows them to add capabilities to their existing technology environment without having to replace the ERP that supports their daily operations.
A measurable return on investment
Improved forecasting, more appropriate inventory levels and better purchasing decisions can all contribute to measurable financial benefits.
These may include reduced excess inventory, fewer stock-outs, improved service levels and more efficient use of working capital. The results depend on the business’s starting position, implementation and adoption. Netstock customers can typically experience:
- 50% better forecast accuracy
- 25% less inventory held
- 15% better fill rates
- 70% less time spent on planning and ordering
How do you choose supply and demand planning software that integrates with your ERP?
ERP compatibility is an important consideration, but it should not be the only factor when evaluating planning software. The right solution needs to fit your systems, data, processes and business requirements.
Confirm ERP compatibility
Start by checking whether the planning platform supports your ERP system and specific version. Ask about the integration method, any technical requirements and whether the connection supports the data and workflows your business needs.
Understand the data requirements
Find out which information the platform needs from your ERP and whether your existing data is suitable for planning.
Historical sales, inventory records, supplier lead times and item master data are particularly important. It is also worth understanding how missing or inconsistent information will be handled.
Evaluate forecasting and inventory optimization capabilities
Look beyond basic reporting. Assess whether the software can support demand forecasting, inventory policy calculations, safety stock optimization, replenishment planning and the identification of inventory risks.
Consider how the platform handles seasonality, demand variability and changing supplier lead times.
Understand how data moves between systems
Ask how frequently the planning platform receives information from your ERP and which approved actions can be synchronized back.
You should also understand whether the integration supports the purchasing and approval processes your business already follows.
Consider usability and adoption
Planning software needs to work for the people responsible for making inventory decisions every day.
Look at how recommendations are presented, how exceptions are prioritized and how easily planners can understand the reasoning behind suggested actions.
Establish measurable outcomes
Before choosing a solution, identify the business outcomes you want to improve. These might include inventory turns, service levels, excess inventory, stockouts or planner productivity.
Having clear measures makes it easier to assess whether the software is delivering value after implementation.
How does Netstock approach ERP integration and data security?
Integrating planning software with an ERP involves access to important business information, so data security and governance should be part of the evaluation process.
Netstock is ISO 27001 certified, demonstrating its commitment to internationally recognized information security standards. Customer data is protected within the secure Netstock environment, with robust security measures in place to safeguard sensitive business information and maintain data confidentiality.
Businesses should also involve their IT and security teams in the integration assessment. They can review the relevant documentation, access requirements and security arrangements to ensure the solution meets internal policies and compliance requirements.
Building a smarter planning environment with Netstock
Replacing your ERP to get better planning is rarely worth the cost or disruption to your business. Netstock gives you that planning without the switch. It connects to the ERP you already use, checks every SKU for risk daily and recommends what to order based on the financial impact of each decision. Your ERP stays in the system of record, while your planners stop guessing and start working from the data.
Explore Netstock’s ERP integrations to learn more about connecting your system.
