An approach for evaluation of process sustainability using multi-grade fuzzy method

The rapidly changing modern marketplace and government policies drive an organization to endeavour sustainable manufacturing. Sustainable manufacturing means the production of products/services in such a way that it utilizes minimum natural resources and produces safer, cleaner and environment-friendly products at an affordable cost. Sustainable development in a manufacturing firm can be achieved using three orientations such as material, product design and manufacturing process. Among the three perspectives, process perspective gains more importance because it directly contributes to emissions, energy and resource consumption. Hence, the process sustainability index (PSI) needs to be quantified. In this study, a comprehensive model for assessing process sustainability has been developed. Then by using multi-grade fuzzy approach, PSI has been quantified as 6.94 and performance importance index was computed which helps in identifying the obstacles to enable sustainability improvement. The results indicate that the developed conceptual model is capable of effectively assessing sustainability of process orientation and has practical relevance.