IRONMAN 4×4 reduces stock-outs by over $500,000 and lifts fill rate by 8% in 11 Months

Managing a global supply chain with manual tools

Before implementing Netstock, IRONMAN 4×4 was managing more than 4,000 active SKUs in Excel. Although they had built a “reasonably advanced” spreadsheet, the limitations were becoming increasingly restrictive, impacting accuracy, visibility, and efficiency across their expanding supply chain.

Key challenges included:

• Time-consuming manual planning
• Limited visibility into excess and obsolete stock
• Difficulties merging legacy and new ERP data following the transition to NetSuite
• A small planning team with limited bandwidth
• Growing complexity across a multi-country distribution network

At the same time, the company was undergoing a major digital transformation, rolling out NetSuite, Netstock, and Shopify. This transition earned IRONMAN 4×4 the Transformation of the Year award from IT News and a Good Design Award for digital web Design & Development.

Why Ironman 4×4 invested in Netstock

IRONMAN 4×4 was introduced to Netstock during their early ERP evaluation phase through a NetSuite implementation partner. Although they briefly considered a custom-built solution, it quickly became clear that Netstock would provide far greater speed, reliability, and value at a fraction of the cost.

“Netstock was a huge step forward from where we were. It was a significant leap for us, and the Oracle tick on the Netstock/NetSuite integration gave us real confidence,” says Andrew Reeve, General Manager – Supply Chain at IRONMAN 4×4.

With Netstock in place, the team transitioned to a structured, system-driven planning process. Early improvements were significant, notably in fill-rate performance. Within the first 11 months, IRONMAN 4×4 saw fill rate climb from 88% to 96%, a major operational lift for a business with thousands of SKUs and long international lead times.

The impact was immediate:

• Centralized visibility of global inventory
• The ability to manage by SKU classification
• A consistent process for both demand and supply planning
• Training materials that helped new hires learn and use the Netstock app quickly
• Early wins in fill-rate improvement, stock turn performance, and stock-out reduction

“Our strongest gains have been in fill rate improvement, increasing from 79% to 95%, and in data visibility, especially around managing by classification and prioritizing what’s important.”

The shift to proactive planning with Netstock

Improved visibility & control

Netstock gave IRONMAN 4×4 the ability to proactively manage stock-outs, monitor excess and obsolete inventory, and identify issues across multiple warehouses. The team also gained a clearer understanding of how safety stock and policy settings influence overall performance.

“The visibility is certainly there now, even more so than before. We’ve now got a much better understanding of how our policies influence inventory.”

Major supply chain redesign

The team used Netstock insights to rethink their entire domestic replenishment model:

• Eliminated a hub-and-spoke model that added complexity and cost
• Shifted to direct or consolidated overseas shipments
• Reduced warehouse handling and freight costs
• Improved inventory flow across Australia’s six DCs

“We’re redesigning our supply chain. Netstock data is helping us structure replenishment far more efficiently.”

Advancing planning maturity

The team is now exploring more advanced capabilities, such as pivot forecasting and additional demand planning modules, moving from foundation building to strategic refinement.

“We’re really moving into a fine-tuning stage. There’s still lots to learn, but we’re becoming much better users of the system.”

Achieving measurable results

Over an 11-month period, Ironman 4×4 achieved measurable, high-impact improvements:

• Fill rate increased from 79% to 95%, improving customer service levels and reducing lost sales
• Stock-outs reduced dramatically, from 800K to 220K, strengthening product availability across all channels
• Stock turns improved by 25%, unlocking working capital and enhancing overall inventory productivity
• Clear visibility of excess and obsolete inventory
• Better understanding of demand drivers and policy settings
• Faster onboarding for new planners
• Enhanced ability to manage by SKU classification criticality

The team is now entering a new phase of planning maturity and will start to leverage Netstock’s advanced forecasting and AI-driven capabilities to further optimize their global supply chain.

With Netstock as a long-term partner, Ironman 4×4 is building a more resilient, data-driven, and scalable supply chain, one that is ready to support the company’s next decade of global growth.