Abstract

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Center in Sumengko Village, Nganjuk, has emerged as a well-known shuttlecock production center, responding to local market demand with quality comparable to factory-made brands. Haris Jatmiko, Head of the local Department of Industry and Trade, highlighted the center's role in the strategic framework for SMEs development under the Industrial Law of 2014. Despite its success, the center faces significant quality control challenges. The Head of the SME Center revealed that 50% of products failed the initial quality test due to reliance on a visual-based manual inspection process that did not comply with standard testing methods, such as the SNI 0036:2014 standard. Previous research shows that only one in ten local brands meet SNI requirements, thus underscoring the need for improved quality control to increase competitiveness against regions such as Tegal, which produces shuttlecocks that meet national standards. Production at Sumengko mostly uses outsourced labor, causing inconsistencies in product quality. This study uses value chain analysis to identify gaps and quality control problems in the Shuttlecock SMEs value chain and suggests improvements based on in-depth interviews and critical point analysis, by SNI 0036:2014. Recommendations are provided to address gaps in quality control practices, supported by proposals for further research to test these improvements and conduct a cost-benefit analysis.