Sustainable development in production-operations management
Sustainable development in production-operations management

Author(s): Dariusz Nowak
Subject(s): Economy, Business Economy / Management, Energy and Environmental Studies, Business Ethics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu
Keywords: industry;production;production methods;sustainable production;waste;waste reduction;
Summary/Abstract: Production-operation activity is one of the most important functions of modern enterprises. It requires the involvement of various types of resources, such as: raw materials, materials, machines, capital, information, energy, human factor and others, which are used in production processes. However, many problems arise in operational activity. They concern such aspects as: waste of resources or their wasteful use, mismanagement, excessive energy consumption, environmental pollution, exploitation of human potential, etc. It is also emphasized that these problems are reflected both in the growing costs of a company’s activities and in climate change. However, more and more companies are becoming aware of these dangers and are implementing new products, new technologies and processes that use less raw materials and energy, being more environmentally-friendly. The purpose of implementing new solutions of production is to improve labour mobility, optimise the use of raw materials and resources, reduce costs, and to increase efficiency, productivity, etc. Taking the impact of operating activities on the environment into account, the purpose of this chapter is to present selected production methods from their cognitive aspects, the assumptions of which are consistent with the issues of sustainable development. In particular, focus was placed on the zero-waste concept, which allows to eliminate waste in all links of the value chain. Lean manufacturing and six sigma, which help enterprises fight waste in their activity, as well as circular production related to the implementation of closed-loop production principles in practice, are discussed. In addition, the life-cycle product design and recycling, as well as green and environment-conscious manufacturing are presented. The first of them assumes that the possibility of recycling should be considered in the process of designing products and services. The second one should be identified with a modern and systemic way of managing enterprises, taking all environmental aspects into account by all departments.

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