Implementation of Lean and Green practices: a supplier-oriented assessment method

Organizations are being pressured to increase productivity, while reducing costs and improving quality. In this matter, lean manufacturing (LM) has been widely adopted by firms to reduce waste and achieve such improvements. However, the shortage of natural resources and the high levels of pollution have forced these organizations to meet several regulations for the control of environmental impacts. In addition, organizations’ environmental initiatives have become a critical factor for market differentiation. The integration of both LM and environmental management (EM) results in an innovative approach, called Lean and Green. Much has been studied about synergies and divergences among LM and EM practices. However, there is still a gap regarding the assessment of the level of integration between both approaches. This research aims at proposing a method for assessing the implementation level of LM and EM practices specifically related to suppliers’ relationship. The proposed method allows the identification of critical practices that corroborate for a synergic implementation of lean and Green approach. Further, these practices are ranked enabling managers to prioritize their improvement initiatives. Our results indicate that for a few practices some trade-offs might emerge according to the type of product, entailing a certain level of adaptation to attend to environmental demands.

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