Digital transformation: The case of Cape Town based SMEs in the manufacturing sector

Abstract

The era of digitisation is accelerating the pace of digital transformation in manufacturing SMEs. Research has demonstrated that various challenges originate from within and outside the SME business level such as, among many, company culture and strategy, business processes, financial resources, and government support continue to hinder the way manufacturing SMEs adopt digital transformation. The underpinning research problem is the understanding of how these challenges impact the digital transformation adoption in the established context with limited research to practically address them by jointly engaging scholarship and recent field data. Through the application of a multiple case study method, it is established that manufacturing SMEs in Cape town are digitally transforming. The study is qualitative in nature and used the interpretive methodology which allowed the researcher to apply the DREAMY model, capture the subjective SME experiences as outlined in the conceptual framework and aligns with the importance of the research through the determined research questions. The question that guided the research was (i) how far are manufacturing SMEs with digital transformation? The key findings were that Cape Town manufacturing SMEs are at Maturity Level 1 Initial stage of digital transformation. The recommendations are that at an employee level, a significant action is to empower the employees with basic digital skills and understanding and that they are forced to remain inquisitive of new technology and skills to remain relevant. Moreover, SMEs need to understand that the adoption of technology implies a change in the entire growth strategy and cannot be excluded as an enabler of success when planning the future despite the challenges around costs and other aspects.