An approach to achieve operational effectiveness and sustainability requirements in manufacturing

Sustainability is now an important part of manufacturing business. Keeping up with regulations is only the first stage of achieving sustainable manufacturing. To gain a competitive advantage, manufacturers need to move beyond this first stage and progress further. The different stages of sustainability are presented with emphasis on the second stage which requires aligning management systems with an environmental strategy. To achieve this, the authors have suggested a novel framework to formulate a robust environmental strategy. The proposed framework utilizes the techniques of Lean Six Sigma and Life Cycle Assessment. Proper alignment of these techniques will result in concurrently improving operational and environmental performance. The authors argue that the framework is needed in industry. To support this argument the authors examined the state of sustainability in 36 UK manufacturing businesses. The results revealed weak alignment of management systems and environmental strategy in most surveyed companies (87%)