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There is no doubt that quality has become a major feature in the survival plan of many organisations today. Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful technique for monitoring, managing, analysing and improving the process performance through the use of statistical methods. In this paper, the implementation of SPC is examined and analysed, based on a survey of 33 manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results presented here are focused on 12 critical success factors (CSFs) identified from the literature. The results of the analysis have shown that the critical success factors, in order of importance, are: management commitment, process prioritisation, control charting, teamwork, measurement system evaluation and so on. Moreover, this research has revealed that the least important factor is the use of pilot study in SMEs.

The ability of small businesses to make and adjust to the paradigm shift needed to benefit from the Japanese production theory has been questioned in the literature. Zangwill (1992) questioned the limits of the Japanese Production Theory (JPT) and in a subsequent paper (Zangwill, 1994) held on to his argument about the limits of the Japanese Production Theory. In this paper, the Japanese Production Theory is first discussed, followed by a discussion of the consistency between the traditional EOQ theory and the Japanese production theory, critique of the Zangwill’s argument, and issues related to the relevance of the Japanese production theory to small businesses.