Manufacturing practices and performance: Comparison among small-medium and large industries

Purpose - This exploratory study aims to investigate relationships of current manufacturing practices and their performance with the size of the manufacturing organizations. The study also seeks to identify the practices that significantly influence their manufacturing performance. Design/methodology/approach - Relationships of current manufacturing practices and their performance are investigated using established scales including competitive advantage, quality and reliability practices, advanced quality practices, supplier relationship, field data and information exchange, product data management, manufacturing performance. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and regression model were used in order to fulfil the objectives of the study. The survey was administered to top managers across the manufacturing industry. Findings - The results of the study indicate that there are significant differences in the strategic approach of small and medium (SMI) and large industries (LI). In terms of manufacturing performances, SMIs are marginally ahead of large industries (LIs). SMIs consider product quality and reliability as a basic competitive advantage, while LIs consider company reputation as the import competitive dimension. Research limitations/implications - Possibility of method variance or response biases are limitations of this study, as all data are drawn from employee surveys, and there is some selection bias, as it was not possible to directly compare respondents with non-respondents. Originality/value - This study makes a significant contribution to the manufacturing practices and performance literature by providing further statistically significant evidence of the relationships of current practices and performance across the size of industries.