Publication

Abstract : Sustainability has become the prime focus in most of the manufacturing industries in and around the world due to high competitive demand, recent alleviation of change in global climate and government policies. Lean Manufacturing (LM), on the other hand have been globally accepted and it is now the heart of production in the industrial sectors. Researches depict that the lean philosophy in most of the SMEs are not properly carried out in a progressive and continuous manner and are getting declined in course of time. Also the limited number of researches done in the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability adds to the de-escalation of lean philosophy in the industries. In short, lean is not getting sustained. In order to make a sustainable lean system, a multi-level model, which identifies the enablers and inhibitors of sustainability, has been developed. The details of which is included in this paper. 39 enablers and 27 inhibitors have been identified from different literatures and expert interactions. Incorporating the enablers and inhibitors in the sustainability pillars (Environment, Economic & Social), and lean ideologies, multi-level sustainable- lean (Sus-Lean) enabler model and inhibitor model has been carved out in this paper. This will give an insight on how to make a sustainable lean approach in the SMEs of India. Also, the future research orientations in this regard are proposed based on the models.