Journal of Cleaner Production

Journal of Cleaner Production 85 (2014) 180e190

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Lean and green integration into production system models e

experiences from Swedish industry

Martin Kurdve a, b, *, Mats Zackrisson a, Magnus Wiktorsson b, Ulrika Harlin a

a

b

Swerea IVF AB, P.O. Box 104, SE-431 22 Mölndal, Sweden

Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Eskilstuna, Sweden

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:

Received 16 January 2013

Received in revised form

12 March 2014

Accepted 8 April 2014

Available online 17 May 2014

This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with

environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement programmes for company-specific production systems (XPS) and

integration between formal management systems, such as ISO 9001 and 14001, industrial practices from

integrating management systems with the XPS were studied. A literature-based comparison between

formal management systems and XPS is made, indicating integration potentials. The empirical research is

an analysis of five vehicle and automotive companies in which various efforts have been made to

integrate their management systems with their XPS. The results show that although conscious steps have

been taken since the introduction of ISO 14001 in integrating environmental management into everyday

operations, there are still obstacles to overcome. To fully include sustainability aspects, the characteristics

of the improvement systems have to be adapted and extended. One barrier to extended integration is the

lack of integration strategy. There is further a lack of sustainability metrics and adaptation of improvement methods to push companies’ operational performance. In addition, organisational...