The logistics and supply chain issues among SMEs in Malaysia: A preliminary study

• Main Authors: Nik Abdullah, Nik Ab. Halim, Yaakub, Sabariah, Subhan, Muhammad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: INSInet Publications 2015
• Subjects: HB Economic Theory; TS Manufactures
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/17937/1/AJBAS%209%2028%20241-245.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/17937/; http://ajbasweb.com/old/ajbas_Special-IPN-HCM%20(August)_2015.html

Background: Logistics and supply chain is one of the important elements in business operations and proper management of it will lead towards competitive advantage.This applies not only to large firms but also to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).Existence of supply chain issues may lead towards inefficiency, which eventually will hinder further business growth. Among the common issues faced by firms are inventory issues, customer service issues, organizational issues, information system issues and product or supply flow issues.Objective: The objective of this study is to identify supply chain issues experienced by SMEs in Malaysia and to access the level of severity of each issue. Surveys involving 33 SMEs have been conducted for this preliminary study.Results: The result shows that customer service issues are the most serious issues faced by these SMEs with the level of severity is very severe. Another issue that was very severe is organizational issues.Item by item analysis shows that three items under customer service issues scores the highest mean and are categorized under the very severe category. Conclusion: There are a number of logistics and supply chain issues that are very severe among the SMEs involved in this preliminary study. Most importantly, customer service and organisational are two most critical issues that need to be taken care off based on the findings of this study.