Lean Green—The Importance of Integrating Environment into Lean Philosophy—A Case Study

Abstract

This work is supported by a case study based on the action research methodology with the identification and quantification of the economic and environmental impact in the integration of the two concepts (Lean and Green) in a Portuguese company, where the main manufacturing process is the robotized welding process. In the case study, four Lean tools are implemented: Kaizen, Value Stream Map (VSM), Jidoka and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). The Lean tools application allowed to increase the efficiency of the production system, reducing on average 33% of cycle times, reducing energy consumption by 38% and reducing scrap by 66% which demonstrates that Lean tools application leads companies to environmental and economic gains and contributes to better environmental management, enabling companies to differentiate themselves and increase their profits.