Manufacturing best practices in Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current level of best manufacturing practices in Malaysian ISO 9000 certified small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a survey on 270 ISO 9000 certified manufacturing SMEs. Based on an extensive search of literature on performance requirements, eight areas were identified. Thus, the questionnaire was designed consisting of the eight areas which are management, human resources development (HRD), technology and product innovation, marketing strategy, quality, production process, supply chain management (SCM) and customer focus. Data were analysed using the SPSS software. Findings: The results showed that among the eight areas, customer focus is the most implemented area with the highest mean of 4.16, followed by quality (3.92), management (3.78), SCM (3.56), HRD (3.27), marketing strategy (3.05), production process (3.02) and technology and product innovation with a score of 2.95. The results showed that the level of best manufacturing practices can be improved further, especially in the area of technology and product innovation.

Quality Management Practices of Food Manufacturers: A Comparative Study between Small, Medium and Large Companies in Malaysia

“…The majority of the previous studies on QMP utilized the quantitative approach. For instance, the study conducted by Fotopoulos and Psomas [6] in their study regarding the implementation of ISO 9001:2000 in the Greek food sector; the research conducted by Kafetzopoulos et al [31] on their study regarding the impact of ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 implementation on the business performance; in the study about QMP of the Malaysia food processing industry by Talib et al [27]; and the study conducted by Anuar and Yusuff [29] regarding the manufacturing practices of the ISO 9000 certified companies in Malaysia. Hence, in this study and based on the related work, we conducted qualitative and quantitative approaches to achieve the following research objectives: (i) To determine the extent of QMP implemented by the food manufacturing companies in Malaysia.…”

“…Anuar and Yusuff [29] demonstrated the best quality manufacturing practices among Malaysian SMEs. The eight areas of best quality manufacturing practices consist of: (1) customer focus, (2) supply chain management, (3) production process, (4) quality, (5) marketing strategy, (6) technology and product innovation, (7) human resource development and (8) management.…”

Innovation in SMEs Contributes to Sustainable Growth

“…Consequently, SMEs in Malaysia encounters overwhelming issues notably to produce quality product with a reasonable price as compared to its competitors' products predominantly due to globalisation and inability adapt to the changing consumer behavioural patterns (Al Mamun, 2018;Anuar & Yusuff, 2011).…”

“…To put things in correct perspective, fiduciary accountability of directors has the causal link to innovation which contributes to sustainable growth of a corporation (Anderson & Eshima, 2011). Anuar and Yusuff (2011) concluded that SMEs in Malaysia were not innovatively inclined. The result of the study indicated that 270 corporations of that category scored very low after analysing eight indicators namely managerial skill, market sector, financial and non-financial, knowledge, education and fiscal policy of government.…”

Areas for Benchmarking among SMEs

“…As a result, SMEs are expectedto contribute more to the country's export. Thus, the Malaysian government ensured that all funds through variety of programs provided by local banks are available to help SMEs expand and enable them to remain competitive [3]- [5]. Indeed, to ensure the success of SMEs in economic growth and development, their cooperation in providing accurate information through knowledge sharing in benchmarking are encouraged through many events organized by agencies under Ministry of International and Trade Industries (MITI).…”