Sustainability: a new manufacturing paradigm

Abstract

Recently, many industries adopted lean manufacturing philosophy to improve efficiency through reducing waste for maximization of profit. Most of the manufacturers have benefited the implementation of lean manufacturing through process effectiveness. However, despite of all its effectiveness in the production process, manufacturing industry is facing a real challenge instigated by the stakeholders (i.e. Customers, policy makers, regulatory authorities and society). Stakeholders are consistently pressurizing manufacturers to integrate the social and environmental factor within their production process to protect society and the environment from the negative effects of the manufacturing process, as a result manufacturing process experience continuous adaptation. This adaptation caused technological and procedural shifts, this significantly alter the fundamental manufacturing concepts. Current study provide the basic alterations in the fundamental principles of the green manufacturing paradigm, this adaptation ultimately leads to the new manufacturing paradigm of Sustainable manufacturing. Sustainable manufacturing is a broader concept of manufacturing focused on the integration of social, environmental and economic factors in manufacturing procedures.