Sustainability paradigm for Malaysian manufacturing SMEs: An operations research approach

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the driving force for Malaysian economy. They provide employment, stimulate local economy and participate in the supply chain for large companies. However, limited studies were found for SMEs to achieve sustainability in operations perspective. On the other hand, the concept of sustainability is considered new for most Malaysia manufacturing SMEs. On this note, the research question for this study is “what model is useful for Malaysian manufacturing SMEs to measure their sustainability based on current production performance?”. The novelty is that this study provides a practical starting point towards the development of sustainable manufacturing SMEs by incorporating production performance. The methodologies used in this work are extensive literature review, conceptual model building and mathematical model building. Findings from this study suggest that underutilized capacity or wastage of inputs creates gap in productivity and appears as non-value added input to production process which reduces degree of sustainability in manufacturing SMEs. This gap contributes to the reduction in production performance, increase the production cost and introduces adverse impact on economy and environment. It is imperative for the manufacturing SMEs to eliminate this waste to achieve sustainability. However, the research area on SMEs waste reduction remains under explored. The findings of this study would serve as guideline for Malaysian SMEs managers to formulate effective approach to achieve sustainability. In this aspect, this work is original as developed from fundamental manufacturing concepts. The model is useful for relevant stakeholders to eliminate the non-value added inputs. This paper will add new information in the manufacturing SMEs knowledge domain. Furthermore, this paper will would serve as basis for future research in sustainable manufacturing SMEs.