The ABC analysis is a widely used inventory control technique which consists of classifying inventory items into three categories according to annual dollar usage and concentrating managerial efforts on the high value items. But its major weakness is that the classification is somewhat arbitrary and is made in the light of single criterion, the annual usage. In this paper, a modified approach using TOPSIS is proposed where 1) the inventory items are ranked, rather than classified into three categories, in the order of relative importance and 2) the latter is determined by considering the multiple criteria such as annual usage, difficulty of procurement, lead time and shelf life. A case study was performed with the field data from a company producing electronical parts. The rank order produced by TOPSIS was judged quite reasonable by the company inventory control manager.