¶ … inventory control "system" consists of orders for stock replenishment being made by the stockroom foreman, the purchasing manager, or the manufacturing manager whenever one of them notices that the inventory is low. An order for replenishment of inventory is also placed whenever someone (either a customer or an employee in the assembly area) wants an item and it is not in stock. I would recommend that the company spend time ahead of the year, scrupulously planning the projects that they will undertake the coming year and resources needed for those projects. By planning in advance, they will be able to limit their cost and expense by selecting the cheapest items to procure. These items need not lose out on quality. The company will merely decide the suppliers best for them and the items that will best meet their needs whilst being simultaneously cheap. Indeed, "there were 973 different part numbers purchased for stock last year and those purchases amounted to $314,673. An analysis of inventory records shows that $220,684 was spent on just 179 of the part numbers"...

A initial accounting of items needed ahead of time will reduce much of this expense. Doing this will not only provide them with a steady amount of supplies as back up, but will also keep their customers better satisfied since their customers will not need to wait for service.
This situation particularly exists for the cheap inventory stored on the lower floor that 'oftentimes the assembly area is out of one of these basic items and this causes a significant amount of downtime for the assembly lines."

Doing so at the same time improves their Supply Chain Management since they do not need to wait several days for resources to arrive nor do they need to, a t the last moment, contact distributors and suppliers.

Secondly;

Many customers stop by and order the parts and supplies they need. Telephone orders are also received and are shipped by United Parcel Service the same day.

There is no mention of an IT system. A company as big and complex as this one sounds would benefit from an online communication…