Sustainable manufacturing-greening processes using specific Lean Production tools: an empirical observation from European motorcycle component manufacturers

The main objective of this research is to investigate whether or not Lean Production tools can help reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing companies. The research is based on empirical observation inside five European companies that manufacture motorcycle components and which are also committed to Lean and environmental management. The environmental impacts of the production processes of the five companies were observed and measured before and after the implementation of five Lean tools: Value Stream Mapping (VSM), 5S, cellular manufacturing, Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Comparison of the before and after quantitative results reveals interesting and novel results which contribute to the research on the effects of Lean Production on environmental impacts. In particular, VSM can be used to identify the environmental impacts of production processes. 5S can be useful for reducing oil leakage and improving waste management. Cellular manufacturing can lead to a decrease in electricity consumption, whereas TPM can help to reduce several impacts of the machines, such as oil leakage and emissions of dusts and chemical fumes into the atmosphere. By contrast, no significant improvement in environmental impacts was measured after implementation of SMED. The result of this empirical research also revealed other interesting positive effects concerning electricity consumption in general as well as standardization of activities and worker behavior. The originality of this research lies in observing and measuring the effects on environmental impacts of the implementation of five Lean tools, inviting further research toward a general model of Lean Production for the greening of production processes. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.