Purpose
The globalization of markets poses great challenges, and thus, the manufacturing businesses trying to expand their operations to cater to a global audience have to undergo significant transformations. Therefore, this research aims to identify key challenges and elucidate the critical success factors (CSFs) required for the global growth of manufacturing companies on a worldwide scale.

Design/methodology/approach
A range of interval-valued spherical fuzzy sets (IVSFs) and flexible methodologies such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) have been employed to evaluate the issues in detail. It calculates the effectiveness delivered by each critical success factor (CSF) and identifies the factors acting as a barrier to global market penetration.

Findings
This research highlights the transformative potential of smart manufacturing in developing economies, identifying CSFs such as government support, cost optimization and resilient supply chain management as essential for overcoming obstacles like over-reliance on foreign technologies, regulatory rigidity and skill gaps. The integration of IVSFS with AHP and DEA models offers actionable insights to foster localized innovation, reduce foreign dependencies and promote user-centric designs, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Originality/value
This study shows that IVSFs, AHP and DEA can be used together to estimate the global challenges of manufacturing firms in developing markets. The combination of efficient decision-making and these strategies is novel as it provides ways in which businesses in developing countries can deal with their obstacles and improve their competitiveness on the global stage.