Assessment of Manufacturing Process Through Lean Manufacturing and Sustainability Indicators: Case Studies in Indian Perspective

Abstract

Due to the government pressure and public awareness, industries are bound to incorporate sustainability in their manufacturing process. In this context, the concept of lean manufacturing and value stream mapping (VSM) process has been used widely in various manufacturing industries to minimize the waste in their production process. The objective of this study is to propose a conceptual model for the integration of VSM tool integrated with various sustainability indicators. The proposed model is capable to assess the manufacturing process into three sustainability dimensions such as economic, social, and environmental. This methodology was applied to two different manufacturing industries such as automotive component manufacturing organization and PVC pipe manufacturing organization, situated in India. The result demonstrated that the proposed methodology identified the areas of improvement after applying these integrated methodologies and clearly enabled the opportunities for improvements in both manufacturing organizations.