A conceptual framework for measuring maintenance impacts on sustainability

Abstract

The paradigm of sustainable manufacturing has attracted a great deal of attention over the last decade as an emerging manufacturing approach intending to empower the enterprises to cope with several challenges (such as depletion of physical resources, stricter laws and regulations, economic stagnation, and customer request for higher product quality) and guide them to stand out in today’s competitive environment. Sustainable manufacturing is defined as creation of manufactured goods through the use of a series of processes that minimise the negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, are safe for employees, communities and consumers, and are economically sound. In such today’s competitive industrial context, maintenance process is major lever of organisation efficiency. Indeed, maintenance provides company the ability to keep its production system in efficient state and able to provide product at the required quality. In that way, maintenance process has a large potential in pursuit of sustainable manufacturing thanks to its impact on other company’s processes. In fact, maintenance affects production volume and costs, asset performance, equipment availability, quality of the final product, but also health and safety of people, the surrounding natural environment and the social welfare. Maintenance has many direct and indirect impacts on sustainability-related aspects and a proper and sustainable management of maintenance processes lead to reduce and control such impacts. A sustainable maintenance management strives for more efficient resource and energy management, for reduction of wastes associated to maintenance, elimination of negative environmental impact, and guarantee of employees and stakeholders’ safety... [edited by Author]