Intention of Smart Manufacturing Technologies Adoption among Manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia

Abstract

This paper aims to examine four main drivers under the institutional theory and transaction cost theory as antecedents of the intention of SMT adoption among manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia. Only 20% of the SMEs in Malaysia have started to use SMT platforms in their business. Currently, only limited insight on studies of motivation from supplier-customer perspective that drive the intention of SMT adoption among SME manufacturers in Malaysia. This reluctance risks manufacturing SMEs being left behind compared to players in neighbouring countries. This quantitative study of Malaysia manufacturing SMEs uses a non-probability sampling method. The study collected 160 manufacturing SMEs as valid data for analysis using the contact data from Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) directory as the sample frame. The result was analysed by using SmartPLS 4.0. The findings of this study indicated that the intention of SMT adoption among manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia were influenced by efficiency and expected competitive advantages but there were no significant influenced by supplier pressure and customer pressure. The theoretical and practical implication was discussed which are believed to offer meaningful insight to small SMEs, academicians and government agencies.