ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a breakdown of material regarding serious challenges facing productivity performance in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. Topics addressed include research trends and difficulties facing the country, research methodologies used, research findings, the background of manufacturing SMEs and its definitions, and production systems, as well as value-adding drivers for manufacturing SMEs. Based on research with regard to the productivity of these enterprises, it can be seen that production output fell steadily from 2010 to 2014.
The problems faced by these enterprises involve physical capital, technological capital, and management challenges and are operational and environmental in nature. The research methodology used focuses on secondary data, government agencies, and South African case studies with regard to challenges facing manufacturing SMEs in the country. The research also includes contributions made by various academic scholars in the rest of the world. Based on the background of the research in this chapter, it can be seen that the real challenge is to promote the application of work study in physical capital, technological capital, and management to enhance the productivity of manufacturing SMEs in South Africa.
