Lean and green in the transport and logistics sector – a case study of simultaneous deployment

Garza-Reyes, Jose Arturo; Villarreal, Bernardo; Kumar, Vikas; Molina Ruiz, Patricia

Abstract

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The transport and logistics sector is of vital importance for the stimulation of trade and hence the economic development of nations. However, over the last few years, this sector has taken central stage in the green agenda due to the negative environmental effects derived from its operations. Several disciplines including operations research and sub-areas of supply chain management such as green supply chains, green logistics and reverse logistics have tried to address this problem. However, despite the work undertaken through these disciplines, theoretical or empirical research into the sequential or simultaneous deployment of the lean and green paradigms, particularly, in the road transport and logistics sector is limited. This paper presents a case study where both paradigms have been combined to improve the transport operations of a world leader logistics organisation in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico. To do this, a systematic methodology and a novel tool called Sustainable Transportation Value Stream Map (STVSM) were proposed. The results obtained from the case study indicate that the concurrent deployment of the green and lean paradigms through such methodology and the STVSM tool is an effective approach to improve both operational efficiency and environmental performance of road transport operations. The paper can be used as a guiding reference for transport and logistics organisations to undertake improvement projects similar to the one presented in this paper. Additionally, this research also intends to stimulate scholarly research into the application of lean and green paradigms in the transport and logistics sector to expand the limited research pursued in this area.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Publication Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2017
• Journal: Production Planning and Control
• Print ISSN: 0953-7287
• Electronic ISSN: 1366-5871
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 15
• Pages: 1221-1232
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1197436
• Keywords: efficiency, environmental performance, environmental sustainability, green, lean, road transportation, waste elimination
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/918971
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1197436
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning & Control on 14 June 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09537287.2016.1197436
• Contract Date: Jun 1, 2016