Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2008 383 Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A quality and reliability improvement strategy for a small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprise: a case study K.C. Aw,* S.Q. Xie and E. Haemmerle Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Fax: +64-9-3737-479 E-mail: k.aw@auckland.ac.nz E-mail: s.xie@auckland.ac.nz E-mail: e.haemmerle@auckland.ac.nz *Corresponding author Abstract: The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how a Small- and Medium-sized Manufacturing Enterprise (SME) in New Zealand strives to improve its product Quality and Reliability (Q&R) through a proposed Q&R improvement programme. This was based on the work conducted for an electronic company in Auckland, New Zealand. The approach taken was to design a Q&R improvement programme based on reviews of its historical data, available facilities, future goals and benchmarking. To maintain confidentiality, the name of the company is omitted in this paper. Most SMEs are low volume manufacturers and it is unrealistic to generate Q&R data from large sample sizes. Despite this, Q&R has become an important factor for them to compete in the global market. A strategy has to be developed to produce products of high Q&R level. This strategy has been proven effective and has been integrated into the company's continuous Quality Improvement Program (QIP). Keywords: Quality and Reliability improvement; Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise; SME; design for reliability. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Aw, K.C., Xie, S.Q. and Haemmerle, E. (2008) ‘A quality and reliability improvement strategy for a small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprise: a case study’, Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.383–395. Biographical notes: K.C. Aw was born in Georgetown, Malaysia. He obtained his MSc in Advanced Manufacturing System from Brunel University, UK in 1998 and received his PhD in Applied Physics from University of Science, Malaysia in 2003. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer at the Mechanical Engineering department of the University of Auckland, teaching Mechatronics Engineering. S.Q. Xie received his MSc and first PhD in Mechatronics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, in 1995 and 1998, respectively and later a PhD in Manufacturing Automation, from the University of Canterbury, Canterbury, New Zealand in 2002. He joined the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2003, and is currently a Senior Lecturer.