Developing sustainable manufacturing strategies through practice maturity assessment

A lack of consensus on the definition of eco-efficiency in factories has led to a wide range of assessment approaches in the literature available for practitioners. The growing number of such solutions has been supported to a limited degree by research into the process of improving environmental performance (EP) through technical and managerial practices. Following up from their research activities on assessments of the maturity of practices in manufacturing, through the lens of organizational capabilities and resources, the authors present early findings from their work. These results are represented in maturity profiles and this generates a discussion on the implications that the level of maturity of practice has on manufacturing strategy formulation. The authors develop a conceptual framework to interpret the implication of the maturity profiles on manufacturing strategy and conclude with a proposition of five sustainable manufacturing archetypes that enhance business performance.