A Study of Sustainable Manufacturing Through Lean Manufacturing - An Excogitation Paradigm

An efficient manufacturing process is the essence of sustainability. The old thinking was that the companies adopting environmentally friendly processes add costs. But now with the new thinking which emphasizes on green practices like recycling, reusing and reducing waste can cut costs because they make a company more efficient. Today’s corporation is becoming enlightened to the fact that green manufacturing can enhance more profitable manufacturing through a new concept called lean manufacturing. In the 1980′s just-in-time techniques became popular in all organisations as they saved costs from production by eliminating the need for high levels of inventories by focusing on using just what was needed, when it was needed. Lean manufacturing takes this one step further and focuses on the elimination of all wastes in the production process. This results in higher value to the customer, less raw materials waste, less wasted worker effort, and an overall greener and more profitable company. Lean manufacturing will result in lower material and labour costs and greater production revenues. There is a need to bridging the continuous improvement gap between operational performance and environmental performance. This conceptual paper “A Study of sustainable manufacturing through lean manufacturing - An excogitation paradigm” focuses on the benefits of lean in relation to green manufacturing. It explores the linkages between lean manufacturing principles and the benefits of green manufacturing