Abstract
Quality management systems are important for any organization to sustain growth develop technologies and to manage innovation. However, the cost of quality can make it challenging for start-up enterprises to be competitive. South Africa needs to establish successful incubation models that can assist the country's government to reach key economic development milestones. The transformation of quality management systems in these incubation clusters to assist start-up enterprises is still not clearly understood. This paper investigates key elements to define the life cycle position of an incubation cluster and the phases to grow from a start-up to a large corporation. The benefits for centrally managing quality management system (QMS) are also discussed. Data was collected from existing incubators and small businesses in the manufacturing industry Current best practices are highlighted and future work discussed.