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Activities in the manufacturing sector are often considered the bedrock of an economy and a key driver of growth and development. Within the South African manufacturing sector, operations skills are reported to be deficient and are often cited as a main cause of failure in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). This study aims to explore and test this fragile relationship between operations skills and SMME sustainability. It also aims to conduct empirical investigations in a high density SMME manufacturing environment.

Building on previously established literature on SMME sustainability and operations skills, various measures are developed and tested for reliability and validity. Factor analysis is used to identify relevant factors in terms of operations skills. Correlational analysis is then employed to test the hypothesized relationship. The study is cross‐sectional in design and relies on trained fieldworkers administering surveys to a diverse set of SMMEs.

Five clear factors for operations skills are identified which further show links with business sustainability. The hypothesis is supported where significant correlations reveal that several operations skills are positively associated with sustainability.

SMME owners, educators and service providers can all benefit from the study's findings by the increased awareness on the nature and associations that operational skills have on developing sustainable SMMEs.

The study focused on a neglected area of SMMEs – the importance of operations towards business sustainability, and has made a contribution towards theory development through empirical explorations. This is a first in South Africa where an instrument measuring operations skills has been validated and associated with SMME sustainability in a manufacturing context.

In his 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki indicated that the regulatory environment for small businesses would be improved, as this sector plays an important role in the national strategy for accelerated and shared growth. The aim of this study is to determine whether the size of an enterprise and the sector in which the enterprise operates has an impact on how the enterprise’s tax responsibilities are administered and managed. A survey was conducted amongst small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing, retail and business services sectors in Gauteng. The study focused on Gauteng because the majority of small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) are located in this province. The study found that most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the business services sector outsource their tax responsibilities because they lack the time needed to manage these functions. It was also found that the size and type of organisation affects the role taxation inputs play in business decisions. The SMEs included in the survey preferred a reduction in interest and penalties charged as a taxation relief measure.

In his 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki indicated that the regulatory environment for small businesses would be improved, as this sector plays an important role in the national strategy for accelerated and shared growth. The aim of this study is to determine whether the size of an enterprise and the sector in which the enterprise operates has an impact on how the enterprise’s tax responsibilities are administered and managed. A survey was conducted amongst small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing, retail and business services sectors in Gauteng. The study focused on Gauteng because the majority of small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) are located in this province. The study found that most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the business services sector outsource their tax responsibilities because they lack the time needed to manage these functions. It was also found that the size and type of organisation affects the role taxation inputs play in business decisions. The SMEs included in the survey preferred a reduction in interest and penalties charged as a taxation relief measure.

Cost reduction through the use of technology has become the competitive strength of companies. The benefits of technology integration are quite credible and have been effective in business competition. The purpose of this paper is to describe an integrated manufacturing strategy for the deployment of a CAD/CAM system in a small, medium manufacturing enterprise (SMME).

A case study of a SMME is utilised in deploying an integrated CAD/CAM system for practical application of manufacturing technology for achieving sustainable growth through lean systems design (LSD). The paper presents a techno‐economic and technology change management framework, with an application of a holistic set of lean deployment tools that include establishing a strategic and operational plan for implementing CAD/CAM systems as a means to achieving world‐class performance.

The paper shows that the CAD/CAM integration within the case company increased knowledge of CAD/CAM technology, productivity, and flexibility whilst reducing throughput times. Based on the literature review and the current case study, a framework for ideal CAD/CAM implementation has been proposed. The paper also shows that management and organisational structures are key inhibitors for successful implementation of technology integration.

The paper uses a single case study to validate deployment of the integrated manufacturing strategy in SMMEs. Hence there is a limitation to its generality.

The paper provides an opportunity to further understand CAD/CAM system implementation protocols within a well structured framework and its configuration within SMMEs.

The CAD/CAM implementation framework will allow the SMMEs to achieve Lean manufacturing (thereby minimising wastes) leading to improved growth and employment rates.

The presentation of conceptualisation, development and implementation of an integrated CAD/CAM system in support of organisational wide Lean manufacturing initiative in SMMEs is an originality of this paper.

This paper investigates to find whether it is possible to align the interests of a small and medium manufacturing enterprise (SMME) with its raw material supplier in a manufacturing supply chain (MSC) to achieve a sustainable solution. To this end, current study examines the coordination of an MSC under cap and trade consisting of a raw material supplier and a carbon-emitting SMME confronting a stochastic demand.

The model is developed under both the decentralized and centralized decision-making scenarios. Under the investigated model, the SMME decides on both production quantity and sustainability level simultaneously. To achieve coordination and align the interests of both MSC members toward sustainable economic development goals, a customized revenue-sharing contract is developed.

Although the centralized model is profitable for the MSC, it makes a loss for the SMME compared to the decentralized scenario. The revenue-sharing agreement is able to create coordination among the MSC members and optimize profitability and sustainability. The established revenue-sharing guarantees a Pareto-improving situation for both members. Applying the established contract not only reduces shortage occasions but also results in more sustainability levels, which in turn means movement toward attaining sustainable economic development goals.

Unlike previous studies, carbon emission is assumed as a nonlinear decreasing function of the sustainability level which is a more realistic case. In accordance with SMMEs business environments, the market demand is also assumed uncertain. In addition, instead of assuming an investment cost for sustainability, the authors assumed unit production/purchasing costs as functions of product sustainability level.

The catastrophic state of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has seized off all the operations along with the globe. It has not only distressed the socio-economic structure of the world but also mounted enormous pressure on the governmental bodies to save the lives of the people. Despite this, severe impacts of the same have been observed on the small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMME) practices, resulting in the economic downturn. The purpose of this study is to facilitate the SMME’s with circular economy (CE) practices to overcome the negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on their supply chain (SC) operations.

The presented work identified seven critical impacts as criteria of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian SMME and seeks to identify the relief measures in the CE paradigm by identifying 13 prominent enablers to CE as alternatives. Experts’ opinions have been engaged to detect CE enablers’ proficiency to overpower the pandemic impact through a questionnaire-based survey. The obtained data have been clustered and analyzed through a hybrid approach of entropy weight method and grey relational analysis to find an organized ranking of the enablers.

Current work spotlights the SMME’s losses due to SC disruptions and declined consumption patterns. The waste augmentation during the pandemic era has also been grouped in this study, primarily associating with the SC’s waste generation. The result of the performed analysis shows that the CE enabler “waste reduction and its transformation into a resource (E1)” have achieved the highest rank among all the considered enablers, governing a higher demand toward reusing waste for better handling the post COVID era state of affairs.

The presented study aimed to suppress the pandemic impact and generate anticipation of the CE concept, which might help the managers and policymakers identify its urgent need to achieve a stable and resilient SC system in a post COVID period. Presented work is peculiar, aiming to accelerate the CE adaption with green material usage in the industrial sector to suppress the present miserable condition and to achieve industrial and social sustainability for a better-foreseen future.

The paper aims to investigate challenges facing small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in public procurement in Botswana from the view of a buyer.

The researchers conducted consultative workshops, succeeded by focus groups and follow-up telephone interviews, to collect and validate data. A total of 75 procurement officers from central government ministries and local governments participated in the study.

Results indicate that SMMEs find it difficult to deal with public procurement because of lack of capacity, unfair bias against SMMEs, inefficient government payment systems, unfair competition from their larger and established counterparts and centralized public procurement. The paper recommends a comprehensive integrated framework, improvement of SMME capacity and adopting policies to ensure greater public procurement market access.

The traditional models of economic development are being challenged and the role of stakeholders is being reprioritised, resulting in an increased emphasis on the SMME sector. A practical strategy is needed in South Africa for reducing input costs and promoting the implementation and sustainability of a technology transfer initiative aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the small/micro manufacturing enterprises. However, there is insufficient knowledge to inform this process. The aim of this paper is to understand the constraints to manufacturing competitiveness and to proffer a model for inter‐firm linkages appropriate to the South African context.

Innovation is regarded as a crucial determinant of growth and development in South Africa, and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have been earmarked as instruments for the achievement of the socio-economic goals and innovation as set out in the National Development Plan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of innovation on SMME performance in South Africa.

The empirical analysis was conducted using the quantile regression technique to examine the effect of innovation on the performance of firms at different sales levels. Data from the World Bank's enterprise survey was used for the analysis.

The results of the empirical analysis showed that R & D expenditures have a positive and significant effect on performance for firms with higher sales (high growth or larger firms). There is evidence that the introduction of new products/services promotes performance for low growth/ smaller firms.

The empirical results imply that innovation is crucial for SMMEs’ development and growth. However, smaller/low growth firms are not able to spend on R & D due to a lack of funds which could be the reason for their low survival rate. More support needs to be provided to smaller firms with lower sales growth, given the large financial outlay required for R & D expenditures. Despite the lack of funding for R & D expenditure, smaller firms are encouraged to introduce new products and methods of production that do not require major financial outlays.

There is scant empirical evidence on the impact of innovation on firm performance in South Africa. Most studies investigate the challenges faced by SMMEs and the different types of innovation approaches used by firms. Furthermore, the study employs the quantile regression approach which highlights the effect of innovation on firms of different sizes.

Manufacturing excellence is critical to our nation’s economy. Indian Government’s National Manufacturing Policy, drafted in 2011, is being revamped to include the aspects of Industry 4.0. Initiatives, both led and assisted by government and industries, are being launched to catalyze and transform India’s manufacturing competencies. This paper aims to study the functional areas which can potentially leverage Industry 4.0 technologies and help India’s manufacturing establishments to transform. It does so in context of the aspirations of India’s small and medium discrete manufacturing establishments (SMME) towards adopting digital technologies for the identified functional areas. The study draws its context from the relevant literature review intended to examine the academic articles published until the end of September 2018, followed by a maturity assessment survey of Indian SMMEs to establish priority areas

The literature survey has been complemented with a maturity survey of more than 250 of Indian SMMEs to establish adoption gaps by comparing proficiency and sophistication of their present status and proposed adoption aspirations by 2020. The assessment of the organizational aspirations and gap areas identified is expected to indicate which of the Industry 4.0 elements can be adopted by them.

The maturity survey undertaken throws up several insights – Indian SMME community’s self-assessment indicates operational measurements followed by manufacturing and design interventions as the aspired transformation cycle. The survey indicates that manufacturers would like to make changes to their design and manufacturing strategies based on performance metrics; therefore, they need to first capture real-time machine data, analyze and then incorporate the resulting improvements in manufacturing and design decisions in that order.

The maturity assessment method itself is in evolution stage, and future correlations with benefits will strengthen observations. Industry 4.0 being relatively new initiative for India, availability of country-specific academic literature is limited. The maturity assessment survey undertaken across organizations of North, West and South India therefore carries the risk of not reflecting the views of a wider population. The current maturity, or the lack of it, of proficiency and readiness of India’s SMMEs with respect to digital technologies may also be a barrier to self-examine.

This research is expected to provide insight into priorities to be adopted for digital-centric transformation by Indian SMMEs. It is expected to facilitate policymakers and influencers from government and industry to help frame policies that facilitate the adoption of digital technologies by Indian SMMEs and facilitate India’s technical education community to adopt skill development programs to support industry. It is expected to provide guidance to India’s academic institutions to rejig their curriculums to help bridge the critical skills gap that exists between newly inducted engineering professionals and industry.

Digitalization is expected to foster lean and therefore support sustainability initiatives. Digitalization is expected to help create new, alternative sources of employment which are more relevant to emerging times and foster unlearning the past and relearning of new skills. This emerging diversity of engineering applications resulting from digitalization is expected to also support the larger and poorer agricultural community of India and help the sector to become more efficient and productive, which in turn will reduce economic alienation of a large section of Indian society.

Industry 4.0 has been identified as the transformational initiative for India’s manufacturing competitiveness. Indian manufacturing sector needs to urgently implement the digital technologies and improve their performance and remain relevant in this dynamic market. This research will help guide them to frame their respective digital strategies and be successful. This research will help government and industry influencers to plan and execute their interventions.