Survey on Total Quality Management in Small and Medium Manufacturing Industries in Shah Alam

Recognition of quality management as a significant factor holds the key to competitiveness in the global market regardless of the size of the company. Total Quality Management (TQM) practices are primarily found in larger and multinational organizations but little has been written on how TQM has been applied in SMEs of Malaysia. This project reports the results of a full survey conducted among a sample of local SMEs in Shah Alam, Malaysia. The survey conducted in this project revealed the level of TQM implementation in the manufacturing industry via a direct visit to the company and by online questionnaire. The survey covered 100 company chosen from many manufacturing industries and produced a response rate of 57.0 percentages. Internal quality audit is used mostly as quality activity. Moreover, leadership and support from top management is perceived to be the top critical success factor (CSFs) in TQM implementation. Lack of experience in quality management is perceived as top barriers for TQM implementation with 77.2 % agreed to it. The result finding is expected to be significant information for future research directions especially as an indicator for the significant information for future research directions especially as an indicator for the development of a suitable TQM framework for the SMEs in Shah Alam and also other local SMEs in Malaysia