Implementing lean production to promote textile and clothing industry sustainability

Abstract

Traditionally, Textile and Clothing industry (TCI) is an industry that naturally consumes large amounts of natural resources (e.g. natural fibers, natural dyes, water and energy) and release chemicals into the atmosphere, water and soil. Lean Production (LP) is an organizational methodology which main key idea is "doing more with less". A fundamental difficulty faced by the TCI stakeholders has been in finding out how to implement this methodology efficiently in a sustainable way. Concerned about this problem, a methodology to support the implementation of LP in the TCI, named PESO was developed. This methodology is based on four dimensions: People, Ergonomics, Sustainability and Operational performance (PESO).By including sustainability as a dimension to be taken into account, it is expected to develop and create a natural awareness to consume less. Today in TCI there is a growing concern with sustainability, as shown by the increase in the number of research projects related with this issue. This chapter aims to highlight these developed and developing projects to the light of the Sustainability dimension of the PESO methodology. These were analyzed and discussed to illustrate that though these do not directly address Lean, allied with it could enable sustainability of their production system and processes. This is embedded in the synergy between LP and sustainability, also entitled Lean-Green. By doing this, TCI is on the road to achieve the sustainable development goals, directly, the goal 12, responsible consumption and production.