Innovation in Maintenance Strategy through Six Sigma: Insights of a Malaysian SME

Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are the cornerstone for economic growth of most countries, especially in the emerging economies, and their contribution as a component to a nation's infrastructure is high. However, the application of innovation and technology for SMEs may face many difficulties due to the restriction of resources. This study focuses on the maintenance strategy, which is an effective approach of extending lifetime of equipments and improving product quality and system efficiency. A qualitative research study was undertaken in a food and beverage SME organisation in Malaysia to explore how customising the deployment of the ethos behind Six Sigma, SMEs are able to bring the total productive maintenance (TPM) strategy to be in greater alignment to that of the business strategy for the organisation it serves