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Lean & Environmental Performance
In its most basic form, lean manufacturing is the systematic elimination of waste from all aspects of an organization's operations, where waste is viewed as any use or loss of resources that does not lead directly to creating the product or service a customer wants when they want it. Through its systematic focus on the elimination of non-value-added activity, lean manufacturing substantially improves the environmental performance of organizations. Even without explicitly targeting environmental outcomes, lean initiatives can yield substantial environmental benefits.
However, although lean efforts by their very nature produce environmental benefits and establish a systemic, continual improvement-based waste elimination culture, lean methods do not explicitly incorporate environmental considerations, leaving behind environmental improvement opportunities on the table. In order to attempt to bring the environmental benefits of lean manufacturing to the forefront, EPA produced the Lean & Environment Report that examined the relationship between lean and the environment and points out opportunities for further enhancing organizations' environmental performance through their lean initiatives.
Some key findings:
- Lean produces an operational and cultural environment that is highly conducive to waste minimization and pollution prevention. Significant environmental benefits typically ride the coattails of lean initiatives. The powerful economic and competitiveness drivers behind lean drive a willingness to undertake substantial operational and cultural changes, many of which have important environmental performance implications. Lean typically results in less material use and scrap, reduced water and energy use, and decreased number and amount of chemicals used.
- Lean can be leveraged to produce even more environmental improvement. Although lean currently produces environmental benefits and establishes a systemic, continual improvement-based waste elimination culture, lean methods do not explicitly incorporate environmental performance considerations, forgoing some environmental improvement opportunities. Lean provides an excellent platform for broadening companies' definition of waste to address environmental risk and product life-cycle considerations as some lean practitioners have demonstrated.
- Some regulatory "friction" can be encountered when applying lean to environmentally-sensitive processes. The right-sized, flexible, and mobile operating approach used in lean manufacturing is quite different from traditional manufacturing operations, and can be challenging to use in environmentally-sensitive manufacturing processes such as painting and coating. Some lean practitioners believe this results in situations where either environmental performance improvements can be constrained or the risk of non-compliance increases.
- Environmental agencies have a window of opportunity – while companies are embarking on lean initiatives and investments - to collaborate with lean promoters to further improve the environmental benefits associated with lean. There is a strong and growing network of organizations promoting lean. These organizations share a goal with organizations promoting environmental improvement and pollution prevention-both strive to eliminate waste from business. While there was virtually no coordination between the environmental and lean networks when the report was completed, such a network is being developed under the Green Suppliers Network program.
For more information:
- Lean Manufacturing and the Environment (PDF, 68 pages, 524 KB, About PDF)
EPA sees an important connection between lean manufacturing and environmental improvement. - Lean and the Environment Fact Sheet
This fact sheet summarizes steps that EPA is taking to enhance the environmental benefits of advanced manufacturing techniques and trends. - Lean Environmental Benefits and Shortcomings
An explanation of potential benefits and shortcomings that result from the implementation of lean methods. - Pursuing Perfection: Case Studies Examining Lean Manufacturing Strategies, Pollution Prevention, and Environmental Regulatory Management Implications (PDF, 49 pages, 264 KB, About PDF)
Profiling specific case studies in Lean and the environment.