An approach to assessing sustainability in the development of a manufacturing company

Abstract

In recent years, more reports and articles have been published on the necessity of implementing changes to manufacturing processes in the context of sustainable development (SD). The use of IT systems in manufacturing companies creates the opportunity to support changes implemented in the context of adaptation to the concept of SD. This paper proposes and explores a Sustainable Development Card (SDC) within an enterprise, the use of which will enable knowledge about the enterprise’s development level to be gained in the context of SD through the data and information collected from the information system, namely, the Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) implemented within a company. This research uses studies from the literature on the subject and also the case study in order to determine the SDC integrated with the ERP system. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used, which uses validity indicators to allow a manufacturing company’s development to be evaluated within the context of SD. The results were verified by a real case study of a Polish manufacturing company. It was determined that the proposed approach allows SD to be assessed in a manufacturing company and enables the implementation process of SD strategy to be constantly monitored. This paper contributes to theory and practice at the interface of the development and sustainability of a manufacturing company, whereby assessing sustainability is associated with the development of strategy and information systems that are associated with the development of an organisation. The possibilities of using the results of research, in practice, are demonstrated convincingly.