Scientific Glass, Inc., a glassware manufacturing company seeking to capitalize on growth opportunities in its industry, both domestically and internationally. Before embarking on expansion, the company is well aware that it needs to dramatically improve poor inventory management and controls. In this article I will access the company's key issues and, through analysis, give meaning to why the key issues require immediate attention and change. Additionally, I will provide recommendations to Scientific Glass, Inc. on initiatives that can be taken to improve their key problems, as well as some strategic ideas on how they may want to focus their resources. My analysis and recommendations are based on information provided in the case study, "Scientific Glass, Inc.: Inventory Management," written by Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt and concepts in the textbook "Operations Management," by J. Heizer and B. Render. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayScientific Glass, Inc. (SG) is a specialty scientific glassware company that manufactures and houses its own inventory. The company and industry are growing rapidly; SG's sales are expected to grow 20% in 2010. The company maintains its "dual goals of continued sales growth and increased customer satisfaction" (Wheelwright, S., Schmidt, W., 2011), and to To maintain such a competitive advantage, in 2008, SG increased its customer service level target to 99%. To improve response times to customers, they added six rented warehouses in the United States and Canada, but without a well-thought-out inventory management system, SG soon faced problems with rising inventory. The company just hired Ava Beane for the position of Inventory Planning Manager; Beane's challenge is to implement an inventory control system that is in line with the “dual objectives” of SG (Wheelwright, S., Schmidt, W., 2011). Successful strategy and execution are crucial for the company as it prepares for growth and global expansion. SG Major Problems: (1) Inadequate inventory control system and high inventory balances; inventories increased 78% from 2008 to 2009. (2) An unnecessary number of regional warehouses became expensive and inefficient. (3) Capital needed to invest in new plant equipment in 2010 and to expand international distribution in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Also consider a higher-than-industry order fulfillment rate of 99%. The first problem identified is the use of two separate computer systems: "one for ordering and inventory tracking and another for manufacturing and warehousing operations" (Wheelwright, S., Schmidt, W., 2011, p. .5). This misalignment creates communication issues that ultimately create inaccuracies in inventory records. Additionally, the company's ordering system is automated and places orders on a 2 week cycle, when inventory (according to inaccurate records) reaches a certain threshold the system automatically places inaccurate production orders. Poor inventory controls are costly due to excess inventory and affect SG's service level when it is unable to fulfill an order due to stock out. During 2008, SG leased six warehouses across North America adding to its two existing warehouses, one located in Waltham, MA and one located in Phoenix, Arizona. The additional warehouses were intended to reduce customer response times by moving products more., 2011,.