DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

lean manufacturing, despilfarro, ambiental, revisión, indicador, sostenibilidad, waste, environmental, literature review, indicator, sustainability

Article type:

NOTA TECNICA / TECHNICAL NOTE

Section:

TECHNICAL NOTE

This paper evaluates, from a review of the literature, whether lean manufacturing (LM) contributes to a "greener" company. Existing research on the hypothesis of synergy between the two concepts is analyzed. It is concluded that there are discrepancies in the results achieved due to the lack of uniformity in the approaches and variables considered. LM practices and tools can help achieve a "greener" company, but relations between LM and environmental improvements are neither guaranteed, nor immediate, nor univocal, nor easy to measure. The human factor (and therefore its management) is paramount.

Keywords: lean, TPM, sustainability, environment, literature review