Title: Ranking of factors that underlie the drivers of sustainable manufacturing based on their variation in a sample of UK manufacturing plants

Authors: Haitem Fargani; Wai Ming Cheung; Reaz Hasan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK ' Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK ' Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

Abstract: The trend towards environmental sustainability has encouraged research to explore this new area in manufacturing. Part of the research effort is directed at identifying the drivers of this new development to understand how it is impacting traditional manufacturing. Research so far, however, represents merely the tip of the iceberg of a very complex phenomenon. A deeper understanding of the factors affecting these drivers is lacking. This study, therefore, aims to identify factors that support some sustainability drivers. This study has identified four key drivers and the factors that underlie them. Ten underlying factors are analysed by conducting statistical tests that show their variation in a sample of manufacturing companies. These factors are then ranked according to their variation in the sample. The novelty of this study is its attempt to provide deeper knowledge of what influence the strength of sustainability drivers.

Keywords: sustainable manufacturing; statistical analysis; variation control; environmental management; sustainability drivers; operations management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2018.091762

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2018 Vol.32 No.3, pp.297 - 311

Received: 08 Dec 2016
Accepted: 07 Jun 2017

Published online: 15 May 2018 *

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