Abstract
Due to the impact of globalization, the competition between enterprises has become fierce and led the supply chains of many industries to be reorganized. One of the consequences is that the operation of many small and medium enterprises (SMs) had become very difficult. Hence, many of SMEs in Taiwan have gone bankrupt and some of them have moved to other places where they have lower production costs, in order to survive; this not only hollowed out the industries but also disconnected the supply chains in their mother countries. Because Taiwan’s SMEs are generally poor in innovation, this study explored the implementation of the theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) with alignment of new product development (NPD) and supply chain management (SCM) to strengthen the innovation and productivity of new products, so that SMEs can refer to its use to aid sustainable business operation. We considered an SME in Taiwan as a case to study and investigate the strategies that it employed to achieve survival and sustainability. By examining the practical applications of the NPD of the case company, which was based on the TRIZ and NPD SCM alignment, we found that value-added products may be created despite unfavorable industry environments, by implementing and coordinating the TRIZ and three product-related variables, namely innovating, modularity, and variety. This study explored practical alternatives for SMEs to develop various value-added products that meet customers’ changing requirements and succeed in competitive markets to achieve a sustainable business operation. Considering SMEs are crucially important to the economic equality and development of countries and that SMEs may only survive for a short time when operating in changing supply chain environments, this study can be used as a reference for the management of SMEs and future academic research in related fields.
Highlights
Because Taiwan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are generally poor in innovation, this study explored the implementation of TRIZ with alignment of new product development (NPD) and supply chain management (SCM) to strengthen the innovation and productivity of new products so that the SMEs can use it for the purpose of sustainable business operation
Because almost all its suppliers were located in Taiwan, the investigated company did not focus on the lead time and costs of transportation and storage; they did not pay considerable attention to SCM during the aforementioned period
Through an investigation of the case company that manufactures various personal trimmers for men, we found that despite the drastic changes in its supply chains, the company was able to survive and continue its business operation in Taiwan
Summary
Taiwan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) had been enjoying the benefits brought about by globalization; in recent years, most of these SMEs have suffered due to the considerable competition from foreign companies, especially Chinese companies who can achieve low production costs and large-scale production. The marketing autonomy of Taiwanese SMEs is controlled and the high added values created by marketing are held by foreign buyers or global corporations. Taiwanese SMEs earn only meager profits within their supply chains. This phenomenon has led to difficulties in the management of Taiwanese SMEs, who still face competition in terms of price from the rapidly developing
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