The detailed research study of manufacturing PPS fibers using melt spinning and further enhancement of tensile properties by drawing and annealing experiments, a study lacking as of today in open scientific literature, was the focus of this research. This article discusses the effect of polymer molecular weight (MW) and melt spinning process variables on the structure and properties development in melt spun fibers manufactured from proprietary Fortron (R) linear PPS resins. Structure-properties relationship was studied using several characterization tools like tensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light optical microscopy, and wide-angle x-ray scattering. Changes in dynamic mechanical behavior of as-spun fibers manufactured from resins of varying MW and different melt spinning take-up speeds were also studied. The study showed that by a combination of higher MW of the polymer and spinning at higher take-up speeds, tensile properties of as-spun PPS fibers can be improved. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122: 3110-3121, 2011