Small Manufacturing Companies Research Articles

DX프로세스 환경에서의 중소제조기업 보안영역 수립과 보안 가이드라인에 대한 연구

As digital transformation (DX) develops, various security threats occur, mainly in the manufacturing industry. This study considers the characteristics of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the DX environment. Moreover, the security threats to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are derived, security areas are established from technical and management perspectives, and minimal guidelines for each area are proposed. Based on these results, small and medium-sized manufacturing companies can establish security policies that are tailored to the size of the company, assets, importance of work, and business areas that require digital transformation.

DESIGN OF MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: PRODUCT SALES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The advent of Industry 4.0 has fuelled the demand for Manufacturing Management Systems (MMS) in the manufacturing industry. This article presents the design and development of a comprehensive Product Sales Management System (PSMS) tailored for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, focusing on the dairy product industry. Employing the Rapid Application Development (RAD) approach, the development process prioritised user-friendly interfaces and rapid prototyping. Through meticulous requirements gathering, key features were identified, including product information management, customer information management, sales order management, report generation, product advertisement management, and an analytic dashboard. Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, such as use case, activity, and class diagrams, were utilised to visualise the system's functionalities and ensure alignment with requirements. Iterative development and user feedback enhanced the system's usability, resulting in a user-friendly interface for streamlined product sales handling. The proposed PSMS offers efficient management, enhanced communication, and revenue generation for manufacturing companies and tiny and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, the study contributes to an understanding of the system requirements and user interface of a PSMS, providing a valuable reference model for developers and researchers in the manufacturing industry. The proposed PSMS represents a significant step towards efficient product sales management, streamlining operations, and boosting manufacturers' profitability. In future work, the PSMS's user interface will be optimised for better mobile responsiveness, and its functionality will be extended to support collaborative sales management and provide manufacturers with advanced capabilities to enhance their sales processes and decision-making.

Integrating Relative Efficiency Models with Machine Learning Algorithms for Performance Prediction

Predicting operational performance enables organizations to develop operational effectiveness goals considering different combinations of resources. Measuring performance is consolidated with advances in relative efficiency analysis techniques, including data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), albeit these methods lack predictive capability. This paper proposes an approach for performance prediction by integrating relative efficiency measurement models with machine learning algorithms. Data analyses were conducted using data provided by the energy assessment project offered to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the United States ( n 7,548) using sales as the output, with the inputs being the number of employees, hours of operation, electricity, natural gas, cost of electricity, and cost of natural gas. Performance was estimated differently, employing parametric (SFA) and non-parametric (DEA) methods. The prediction benchmarking process occurred by adopting machine learning algorithms: regression (LM), support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), random forest (RF), and decision tree (DT). The findings showed that it is possible to identify the best prediction algorithm associated with a performance model. However, the performance prediction may differ if different strategies for measuring performance or machine learning model configurations are used. In addition, SFA-LOG and SVM had the best performance for regression, and DEA-VRS/IRS excelled with random forest; the RF algorithm was the best fit across all performance approaches. The error rate depends on the algorithm and the performance model, and the number of classes must be reduced to obtain a higher success rate.

Effect of CSR on Corporate Performance: The Mediating Role of Human Resources Management

The management and marketing literature has increasingly emphasized the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in determining company performance over the past few decades. While there is growing recognition of the potential impact of CSR initiatives on business outcomes, there remains a lack of consensus on the specific mechanisms through which CSR influences performance. This ambiguity underscores the need for further research to elucidate the relationship between CSR and business performance. Our research seeks to address this gap by examining the role of CSR-based human resource management as a potential mediating factor in this relationship. This focus is particularly pertinent given the pivotal role that employees, as key stakeholders, play in shaping organizational outcomes. By analyzing data from a sample of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we found evidence supporting the hypothesis that CSR initiatives can positively impact business performance. Importantly, our findings suggest that the effectiveness of a company's CSR strategy in enhancing performance may be contingent upon the extent to which these initiatives are geared towards improving human resource management efficiency. In conclusion, current study contributes to the evolving understanding of the complex interplay between CSR and business performance, highlighting the critical role of human resource management practices in mediating this relationship.

일본 중소 제조기업의 DX를 활용한 생산성 향상 전략

Purpose: Digital technologies, which have played a major role in driving the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are now not only a means of maximizing their competitiveness to small and medium manufacturing companies, but also use them to deepen their ties with related parties such as producers, suppliers, and consumers. Therefore, these digital technologies make it possible to create new values and higher values for small and medium manufacturing companies in Japan today. The purpose of this paper is to focus on what is the fundamental purpose of promoting digital transformation by small and medium Japanese manufacturing companies in recent years, and what are the effects of promoting such digital transformation. In addition, the characteristic that appears in the process of developing digital transformation by introducing such digital technology to its management activities is to analyze cases using the operation model of digital transformation.
 Research design, data, and methodology: Based on previous studies so far, this study presents a DX operation analysis model of Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies to identify and analyze the characteristics of Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies’ introduction and operation of DX in their production activities, and focuses on the cases of small and medium manufacturing companies corresponding to the three types in such models.
 Results: In order to enable Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies to develop production activities suitable for the new digital era amid rapidly changing environmental changes in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, above all, a change in the business model is required to maximize the productivity and added value of their products. Through the DX operation cases of small and medium manufacturing companies in Japan, we were able to see how effectively and efficiently they are coping with the challenges related to productivity improvement and technology succession, which were their ultimate problems, by using digital technologies such as IoT, AI, big data, and cloud.
 Implications: Since the problem of low birth rate and aging population is emerging as a serious social problem in Korea, the technology succession problem related to the manufacture of molds by skilled engineers in Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies is thought to be a phenomenon that may soon occur in Korea. Therefore, the various DX operation cases of small and medium manufacturing industries in Japan have great implications for small and medium manufacturing companies in Korea.

Identifying factors that inhibit or facilitate on-site implementation of chemical risk assessment at small and medium-sized companies.

The introduction and implementation of chemical risk assessment is difficult, especially at small and medium-sized manufacturing and construction companies. This study aimed to identify the factors that inhibit or facilitate such assessment. Twelve individuals in charge of risk assessment at one medium-sized client company and eight small and medium-sized contract companies and responsible for innovation in the manufacturing and construction industries were interviewed. The interview transcripts were analyzed via text mining using KH Corder ver. 3 and a co-occurrence network was used to identify the keywords' connections and each factor in consideration of the interviews. Six factors inhibited or facilitated risk assessment: (1) education on hazardous work in the workplace, (2) improvement suggestions and reduction measures from client and staff, (3) cooperation between employees and contractors in the workplace, (4) thoroughly explanation of SDS content for better understanding, (5) risk awareness based on accident examples, and (6) difficulties imagining the hazards of chemical substances. Factors (1), (2), (3), and (5) were positive, facilitating factors; (4) and (6) were negative, inhibiting factors. This study highlights that it is necessary to educate workers about chemical substance risks using safety data sheets and accident examples in chemical risk assessment.

Mexican MSMEs supplier selection under a commercial and environmental approach: Case Pachuca and suburban areas

The selection of suppliers is a decision that contributes to the competitiveness of companies due to its impact on their costs, efficiency and innovation. The purpose of this research is to distinguish which are the criteria used by a group of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from Hidalgo, Mexico, in order to identify the factors that influence their business and build a supplier evaluation system to guide them to carry out this process with a broader approach than the technical one. The first phase of the investigation includes the search for data from micro, small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, located in four municipalities of the state of Hidalgo, based on information provided by the National Statistical Directory of Economic Units (DENUE). The second stage consists of the application of a questionnaire among the entrepreneurs of the companies. Finally, the third stage included the analysis of the information collected.

Review of Literature on Factors Affecting Long-Term Business-to-Business Relationship – A Special Reference to Micro Manufacturing Units

Purpose: By methodically synthesizing the body of knowledge on business-to-business (B2B) relationships and the long-term factors affecting these relationships, this research article aims to contribute predictions to future trends. Design: The areas that required additional research were identified using a systematic review of the literature and textual analysis of keywords and abstracts. Additionally, convenience sampling was used in the article's analysis, collection of secondary data from reliable sources, analysis, evaluation, writing, and publication of the understanding. Findings: This illustrative abstract map results from the review and shows the organizational level B2B relationship factors. The review highlighted the significance of additional research in B2B relationships, particularly in small manufacturing companies. Even though there have been numerous studies on the variables influencing business-to-business relationships, there is still room for more research into how enterprise attitudes toward service quality affect the development and maintenance of B2B relationships. Originality/Value: To the best of our knowledge, it also offers a review of the literature on the factors influencing B2B relationships, explains the exogenous and endogenous factors, and suggests a concept map. The study adds to the growing body of knowledge on business-to-business relationships. Paper Type: Review Paper.

Exploring the Relationship Between Circular Economy Practices and Growth in Manufacturing SMEs

The circular economy has been acknowledged as key for manufacturing firms, wishing overcome challenges, particularly relates it to business growth. However, the transition to linear economy at circular economy has been slow in literature, particularly there are relatively few studies that have focused on the relationship of circular economy practices and growth of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, for this reason this study's main objective is to fill this existing gap in the literature. In addition, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 400 companies in the automotive and auto parts industry in Mexico, analyzing the data set using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models. The results obtained follow that the circular economy has a significant positive impact on the growth level of small manufacturing firms in the automotive and autoparts industries.

Dilemmas Encountered by Small and Medium-sized Orthopedic Medical Device Manufacturing Companies in Healthcare Reform Based on a Supply Chain Perspective: Taking a Manufacturer in Jiangsu Province as an Example

As China’s healthcare reform progresses, the medical device industry is receiving significant attention as an essential part of the healthcare delivery system. Current research on the supply and management of medical devices in the context of healthcare reform mainly focuses on the downstream of the supply chain to innovate the management model of orthopedic consumables in hospitals and realize competent healthcare. However, only a few studies have focused on medical device manufacturers upstream of the supply chain and proposed measures to improve supply chain performance. This paper takes a medium-sized customer medical device manufacturer in China as a case study. This study analyzes the problems revealed in its supply chain operation through literature research, case study analysis, and fieldwork. It proposes countermeasures for the continuous improvement of the industry against the background of healthcare reform. The study found that small and medium-sized medical device manufacturers were not using management information systems adequately and were suffering from the impact of healthcare reform by sticking to their old distribution models. For long-term growth, these small and medium-sized medical companies should focus on research and development, cater to market needs, integrate downstream distributors, and work with hospitals to establish a more transparent and efficient healthcare supply chain.

Analisis Perhitungan Harga Pokok Produksi Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur Usaha Kecil (Studi Kasus: Perusahaan Cherryka Bakery Yogyakarta)

Today, cost accounting practices are needed for manufacturing companies, including companies engaged in bakery, both small and large companies. Cherryka Bakery is a small business manufacturing company in the production of various cakes and breads that calculates the cost of production using an order cost system for each bread order. In practice, where the calculation of the cost of production carried out by Cherryka Bakery only includes elements of direct raw materials and indirect raw materials, so it is considered less relevant to use an order cost system, therefore the author is interested in analyzing the calculation of the cost of production at Cherryka Bakery Yogyakarta. . This research uses qualitative methods on financial data sourced from Cherryka Bakery and field studies in conducting data analysis on the calculation of the cost of production and its application. The results of this study can be concluded that Cherryka Bakery's cost accounting system is still weak, so the authors suggest setting appropriate standard costs. with the needs of the elements of production and non-production costs from the specifications of each product so that it can be more in line with the characteristics of Cherryka Bakery.

Exploring Relationship of Job Satisfaction, Organizatonal Culture, and Employee Performance in Small Medium Enterprise

Purpose: The objective of this study was to re-examined the relationship of job satisfaction, organizational culture and employee performance. Theoretical framework: There were several studies that examine the relationship between organizational culture, job satisfaction, and employee performance. The employee performance is a consequence of organizational culture and employee job satisfaction. The relationship between the three variables is not surprising, especially the relationship between the two types of performance measures, in-role performance (IRP) and extra-role performance (ERP). Design/methodology/approach: This study aims to re-examine the relationship and influence job satisfaction (JS), organizational culture (OC), in-role performance (IRP), and extra-role performance (ERP) using 376 employees who work in several micro, small and medium scale manufacturing companies in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The factor analysis was used to test the validity, and Cronbach’ Alpha for reliability of the instrument. The structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship model. Findings: The results of this study revealed that JS is a variable that is not related to the other three variables and does not influence either IRP or ERP. This study found that JS is related to and influenced by the organizational culture (OC) adopted. This study strengthened the findings of previous studies that OC is one of the important factors to improve employee performance. Research, Practical & Social implications: Small Medium Enterprises must strengthen organizational culture in order to increase job satisfaction and employee performance, both IRP and ERP. The use of longitudinal data needs to be used to test the mediation of the model. Other raters also need to be used to assess employee performance and eliminate common method variances. Originality/value: Job satisfaction is not always an independent variable as in many studies but can be a consequence of individual internal and external factors.

국내 중소수출제조기업 유통⋅물류 부문의 Green SCM 도입수준에 영향을 미치는 이해관계자 결정요인 연구

Recently, changes in the export environment are expanding the scope of mandatory environment in the eco-friendly distribution and logistics sector. Accordingly, domestic small and medium-sized export manufacturing companies are also included in the list of external stakeholder pressure on the implementation of an eco-friendly system for sustainable operation. Therefore, it is necessary to derive stakeholder determinants that affect the level of Green SCM adoption in the distribution and logistics sector of domestic small and medium-sized export manufacturing companies and present their eco-friendly management strategy directions. Based on Freeman’s stakeholder model, the purpose of our paper is to analyze how it affects the level of introduction of Green SCM by deriving stakeholder factors of small and medium-sized export manufacturers, and to analyze the significance of the moderating effect by conducting a multiple group analysis on the ISO 14001 data implementation period. To this end, our study distributed the questionnaire designed through pending research and in-depth interviews with experts to workers of domestic distribution logistics small and medium-sized export manufacturing companies, and used member lists of the Carbon Convergence Industry Research Association, Korea Trade Association, and professional trading companies to secure objectivity and reliability of samples. The analysis results of our study are as follows. First, the threat of government regulation had a negative (-) effect on the level of Green SCM adoption. Similar results were derived from studies by Xue et al. (2021) and Li et al. (2019) in that the stronger government regulations, the more negatively they affect corporate decision-making and performance. Second, supplier cooperation had a positive (+) effect on the level of Greem SCM adoption. These results are similar to the studies of Kitsis & Chen (2021), Park Chan-kwon, etc. (2019), and the higher the level of awareness of supplier cooperation, the higher the level of Green SCM adoption. Third, community responsibility had a positive (+) effect on the level of Green SCM adoption. This was similar to the study of Khosroshahi et al. (2021) in that small and medium-sized export manufacturing companies have an environmental responsibility as a member of the community and introduce eco-friendly management to contribute to the community. Fourth, the ISO 14001 data implementation period showed a significant moderating effect in the relationship between supplier cooperation and Green SCM adoption level. As a result, it was confirmed that the longer the ISO 14001 data implementation period, the higher the level of adoption through continuous eco-friendly activities to maintain eco-friendly certification.

Customer Targeting and Product Positioning: A Study of Small-Scale Enterprises in Nigeria

This study examined the connection between product positioning and customer targeting strategies amongst small scale food, beverage, and fabric manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The research design used in the study was descriptive survey. Data were collected via questionnaires from 211 marketing professionals and clients of the aforementioned manufacturing entrepreneurs. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis was used as an inferential tool for data analysis. The study's findings demonstrated the importance of product positioning strategy in determining sales results and enhancing competitive advantage. It was discovered to have excellent sales prediction capabilities. In addition, the sales of manufacturing SMEs in under review were significantly impacted by product positioning tactics. As a result, this study recommends using a product price positioning strategy to increase the marketability of their items.

Improvement in production and logistics processes to increase efficiency in the economic system of small manufacturing companies in Colombia

This document describes some of the biggest problems that small manufacturing companies have in Colombia, since these are the ones that generate the most employment and when they close, they cause a high unemployment rate, in addition, through an analysis possible solutions taking into account the production and logistics processes, which are part of the areas that, in these companies, invested or greatly diminish the efficiency and / or economic efficiency of the organization, all this, to avoid the low quality of life of many Colombians who lose their jobs and to increase the economic development of the country in general.

Impact of cooperation flexibility on innovation flexibility in SMEs

Research background: Flexibility has become a possible means for manufacturing companies to better compete in competitive markets. Furthermore, innovations are perceived as an important factor in company strategy, which can differentiate the company from the competition. Purpose of the article: This present study investigates the problems of cooperation flexibility and innovation flexibility in manufacturing companies among electrical engineering companies in the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to identify the impact of cooperation flexibility on innovation flexibility in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. Methods: A questionnaire addressed to SMEs in the form of the Likert scale was prepared to gather information about cooperation flexibility and innovation flexibility. All parts of the questionnaire were tested using Cronbach Alpha. Spearman correlation and regression analysis were used for analysis. Findings & value added: The results of the research show that external cooperation flexibility and internal cooperation flexibility is related to innovation flexibility in SMEs. Results of the research show that there is a positive relationship 1) between external cooperation flexibility and innovation flexibility and 2) between innovation flexibility and business performance at SMEs. The findings of the research contribute to an understanding of the relationship between cooperation flexibility, innovation flexibility and also innovation performance. The novelty value of this paper lies in its perception of flexibility as having two parts, namely external (with suppliers and customers) and internal cooperation flexibility. In addition, innovation flexibility was investigated in two fields, product, and accompanying services to products. The view mentioned provides a complex view of flexibility.

Factors to Assist Micro and Small Manufacturing Enterprises with New Product Commercialization in Brits and Surrounding Areas.

Abstract
 Purpose - The purpose of the paper is primarily to identify the prevalence of factors needed by micro and small enterprises which influence successful commercialization of new products in Brits and surrounding areas.
 
 Design Methodology - A non-experimental form of research was utilized, where a descriptive research design was employed. A survey questionnaire was compiled and quantitative research approach was used.
 
 Findings - There were 103 responses out of a targeted sample of 200 respondents. This constitutes a response rate of 51.2%. The majority of the responses were from the micro enterprises. The majority of enterprises were in Brits and surrounding areas with a total of 54% micro enterprises (n = 56).
 
 Research limitations and implications - The research project was limited to micro and small manufacturing companies in one area of South Africa.
 
 Practical implications - Small businesses are important partners in economic development, job creation and equity and that their success is paramount. This is embedded in the government’s National Development Plan 2030.
 
 Originality / Value - The success of new product commercialization in micro and small manufacturing enterprises is of utmost importance to ensure the success and sustainability of companies.
 
 
 

Research on the relations between cognition and intelligent transformation of executive teams in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises

Intelligent manufacturing is crucial to realize high-quality development and competitiveness improvement of the manufacturing industry. This study takes team cognition as the research perspective, seeks the antecedent variables and theoretical application scenarios of the intelligent transformation of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, follows the theoretical paradigm of “cognition-behavior-effect” and contingency analysis logic of environmental factors to construct a relationship model that includes the cognitive complexity, cognitive flexibility, bricolage behavior and intelligent transformation of the executive team. An empirical research on the relationship of core variables are conducted based on the survey data from 195 small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. The results show that: bricolage behavior plays a partial mediating role between cognitive complexity and intelligent transformation and a complete mediating role between cognitive flexibility and intelligent transformation; cognitive complexity and cognitive flexibility positively regulate each other’s relationship between the bricolage behavior and intelligent transformation. The research reveals an important question of “how small and medium-sized manufacturing executives’ team cognition induces bricolage behavior and promotes intelligent transformation”, with a view to further improving team cognition theory and bricolage theory, thus providing valuable suggestions on breaking resource constraints and pursuing transformation and upgrading for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM FOR CUTTING TOOL FLOWS MANAGEMENT IN A SMALL MANUFACTURING COMPANY

Information systems in small manufacturing companies can have a big impact on increasing economy and productivity. Due to limited human and financial resources, these companies generally use cheaper commercial solutions or develop specialized information system solutions that are adapted to their needs. In order to properly solve the problem of introducing an information system, a thorough analysis of information flows in the company and corresponding business processes is necessary. The main subject and goal of the research in this work is related to the investigation of time losses due to the absence of an information system from the aspect of managing the flow of cutting tools, as well as the presentation of the foundations for its development in a small manufacturing company.

Impact of Cobots on automation

This paper presents cobots (collaborating robots) and their impact on automation and real life. The impact of using cobots is analyzed from the economic, philosophical, and human point of view. Current models of cobot use are presented and illustrated through examples of Cobot use today and what it might look like in the future. Finally, it is believed that cobots could be valuable for developing countries and small manufacturing companies.