Manufacturing performance system for SMEs: A prioritization of KPIs with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

In today’s increasing competitive global market, large and successful manufacturing enterprises have implemented the system of key performance indicators (KPIs) which drives the performance toward the business objectives; however, this is not the case for small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which have been increasingly important for any national economy, especially in manufacturing sector. Although the KPIs can ideally be constructed in accordance with the concept of SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-related) or balanced scorecard, but SMEs that are lack of limited resources and expertise could rarely afford to build such systems with the appropriate definition and measurement of KPIs. Therefore, the paper aimed to provide systematically the system of KPIs adaptable to SMEs, to prioritize the importance of each proposed KPI with the application of a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and to instruct the comprehensive deployment of the SMEs’ manufacturing performance system.