Elsevier

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 150, 1 May 2017, Pages 324-338
Journal of Cleaner Production

Cleaner Production and PDCA cycle: Practical application for reducing the Cans Loss Index in a beverage company

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.033Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The PDCA cycle is decisive for the effective implementation of Cleaner Production.

  • The causes of industrial problems are mainly related to management failures.

  • The standardization of processes guarantees the sustainability of the results.

  • Cleaner production ensures positive results in costs through environmental actions.

Abstract

Environmental management is a commonly sought-after organizational goal today. Organizations with a successful environmental management program in place have gained prominence in the competitive market and, in addition, generated considerable improvements in their processes. With these concerns in mind, this paper aims to implement a Cleaner Production program based on the plan-do-check-action method to reduce an organization's Cans Loss Index (CLI). For this study, a literature review was carried out; data were collected from institutional documents; and a direct field observation was made. We suggested to implement the following actions: training in standards; review of maintenance plans; controls per line segment; design of a matrix of responsibilities; alignment between different functions of the company; and equipment maintenance. As a result, the annual CLI fell from 0.97% (April–July) to 0.78% (end of year), representing a drop of more than 35% in costs from one semester to the next. In the second year, the CLI reached the goal of 0.60%, and costs have reduced by 28.91% in the first four months. Thus, both improvements in quality and productivity of the organization and significant reduction of waste in the production of beverage cans were achieved as a result of implementing the proposed Cleaner Production program.

Introduction

Environmental management has emerged as a strategic factor for many organizations (Anacleto et al., 2012). In fact, environmental management has become integral to the success of a business, owing to the recognition received in the competitive market as well as the need to comply with government laws and regulations. Furthermore, the improvements generated in the processes for the implementation of sustainable practices are seen to bring about significant cost effectiveness in the long run.

Organizations that develop environmental actions and meet regulatory requirements may have some competitive advantages: higher productivity, better products, improved services, and considerable cost savings (Garcés-Ayerbe et al., 2012). In this way, they are likely to be better evaluated by customers, and gain prominence ahead of competitors.

There are several methods that facilitate the inclusion of environmental practices in different types of businesses. One of these approaches is the Cleaner Production (CP).

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) defines the term Cleaner Production (CP) as “the continuous application of an integrated environmental strategy to processes, products, and services to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment” (UNEP, 2012). This concept connects environmental management to the economic management of an organization, i.e. emphasizes integrated development of the economic and ecological aspects.

According to Almeida et al. (2013), the economic and environmental development involves improvements in the following aspects: selection and use of materials; energy consumption; health and worker safety; as well as reduction of emissions to air, water and soil, disposal of solid waste to landfills, and environmental impacts caused by products. In other words, the efficient use of resources leads to better cost results and also reduces adverse impacts on people and the environment.

Several economic benefits can arise from the practice of CP(Shi et al., 2008). However, many organizations find it difficult to implement the actions based on this methodology, as there are limitations of conceptual, technical, political, hierarchical, economic and financial natures (Maciel and Freitasde, 2013).

Many works have addressed the integration of quality tools and environmental management systems (item 2.2.3) since the integration of quality systems and sustainability programs will bring about more advantages to the productive process than the implementation of systems alone could.

According to Stone (2006), implementation of CP may be facilitated by the use of quality tools, among which the plan-do-check-action (PDCA) method can be applied to the implementation of environmental management programs appropriate to specific organizations. This way, the actions will have a better performance, and a future vision is developed, with results based on continuous improvement.

Based on this assumption, this study builds on the model proposed by Silva et al. (2013), who presented a methodology that relates the PDCA cycle and other quality tools to CP. The objective of the present study, carried out in a beverage production company, was to implement a CP program based on the PDCA method to reduce the Cans Loss Index (CLI) of the firm. This indicator was chosen as it is directly related to both cost management (loss of inputs) and environmental management (solid waste generation) of the organization.

This article is organized as follows: the first section presents the literature review on PDCA and Cleaner Production Cycle. It is then related to the methodology used for the implementation of the study. Subsequently, we present the case study based on the beverage company. Finally, we present the main conclusions.

Section snippets

Literature review

In this review, we examine the factors that underpin the achievement of the goal. Therefore, we have discussed several studies on: PDCA cycle; Quality tools; Cleaner Production and its implementation strategies; And the incorporation of quality tools into environmental management programs.

Methodology

This research starts with a systematic review of the literature on the PDCA Cycle, the Cleaner Production program the integration between quality systems and environmental management programs. The available scientific studies were used to reconstruct existing thoughts and concepts, as well as to articulate existing knowledge from various sources. This review attempted to find possible solutions to the problem of wasted canning in the beverage industry.

For the selection of articles, the

Results and discussion

The study results present the company and the sector where the study was carried out; the step-by-step of the method applied in the enterprise; quality tools used as a support; and the results of the CLI after the implementation of the improvements.

Concluding remarks

The study has gained prominence because it integrates two distinct systems (quality and sustainability), using two known tools (PDCA and CP) to improve the company's economic and environmental performance. Economic improvements as well as reduction of waste were evident throughout the work.

The most important drawing from the investigation was the continuous improvement of the system. Finally, future studies should concern the impacts of CLI on the diversity of productivity and efficiency

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