The Integration of Lean and Green Manufacturing for Malaysian Manufacturers: A Literature Review to Explore the Synergies between Lean and Green Model

In general, profitability and efficiency have been the main interest for organization. However, the increasing concerns for the environment from government, regulators, customers and other stakeholders has forced companies to seek for alternatives to achieve green objectives. The difficulties faced by organizations are lack of awareness and guideline in implementing green practices in their daily operation. Under constrained resources, employers are reluctant to spend money on something unclear. During the last decade, lean manufacturing seems to be visible trend in most of the manufacturing industries in Malaysia. As lean tends to emphasize on waste reduction, it provides similarity between lean and green. Therefore, it is a better atmosphere to deploy green practices and tools under existing lean manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to present a review on the synergies between green and lean and identifying the determinants that affecting both lean and green manufacturing for Malaysian manufacturers. The determinant obtained are financial benefit, incentive, legislation, stakeholder, management commitment, technology, environmental awareness and brand image or competitiveness. Besides, the authors identified and suggested future research directions on developing an integrated lean-green model for daily operation. This study aims to assist researchers to identify the opportunities and challenges on lean-green model and this review is useful for manufacturers and government in developing manufacturing policies and guideline.