Business

Software construction

Procurement

Operational excellence

Competitive advantage

Lean project management

Biology

Software deployment

Lean manufacturing

Software engineering

Manufacturing engineering

Software system

Engineering

Marketing

New product development

Lean IT

Ecology

Process management

Programming language

Lean software development

Software

Computer science

Value stream mapping

Sustainability

Quality function deployment

Production Planning & Control

Competitive landscape, informed consumers and stringent regulations have forced many manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to focus on operational efficiency along with sustainability issues in recent years. While many manufacturing organisations have been taking lean initiatives for the past few years for operational excellence, an impulsive rush to adopt lean without a strategic deployment vision has led to scattered implementation of lean tools and projects without desired success. Many researchers and practitioners prescribe value stream mapping as a foundation for lean transformation initiatives; however, little empirical work is available on the symbiosis of lean and green paradigms to reap maximum benefits. This research, through a systematic methodology and a novel tool called Green Integrated Value Stream Mapping (GIVSM), integrates both paradigms in a case study on a U.K. packaging-manufacturing SME. Applying the GIVSM demonstrates that simultaneous deployment of lean and green paradigms have synergistic effect for improving both operational efficiency and environmental performance. In addition, continuous improvement framework with sustainable procurement is proposed to overcome the lean-green misalignments. This study also provides a guiding reference for practitioners to undertake similar improvement projects and identifies opportunities to expand this academic research on integrated lean-green approach into other industry sectors.

An integrated lean and green approach for improving sustainability performance: a case study of a packaging manufacturing SME in the U.K.