Lean and Green Manufacturing

Dear Colleagues,

Today’s agenda on industrial competitiveness demands a truthful coalescence of approaches. On one side, operational smoothness and effectiveness must be granted in complex production environments, where timing, quality and cost are sovereign, while global innovation and competition sets the pace. On the other side, the world of production is constrained and bound by natural and human constraints, where ecosystem provisions and regeneration limits must be acknowledged and granted, and the wellbeing and health of humans secured and sustained. A combined Lean and Green Manufacturing (L&G) approach seems to have great potential for covering many of these challenges. Lean provides the setting and a plethora of tools, techniques and an appropriate framework for the never ending quest of doing more with less, i.e., to provide valuable goods with less human effort, less space, lower inventories, in shorter timeframes, among other things. However, simultaneously, we require products to be truly safe goods, with no hidden drawbacks and well thought out lifecycles, the processes to be clean, systematically designed and engineered, and the workers to prosper along with their families and local communities. Of course, we also want to avoid pollution and stop climate change—the mega challenges we face today that have the potential to do immense damage for generations to come. This Special Issue intends to explore the relevant body of knowledge on Lean and Green Manufacturing and akin approaches, by tangling and eventually expanding the existing models and frameworks.

Dr. José Francisco Pereira Moreira
Dr. Anabela Carvalho Alves
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lean–green models and indicators
• cleaner production
• remanufacturing
• design for manufacturability and the environment
• full lifecycle perspectives and assessment
• prosumers business models
• product–service solutions and systems
• clean mass customization
• circular economy
• green supply chains