Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
BACKGROUND
in different sectors is also possible. The presented
methodology is the combination of data collection,
manufacturing system analysis, identification of
wastes, and evaluation of alternative waste man-
agement solutions. The objectives of the presented
methodology are
In the last few decades environmental problems
have received increasing attention. Protection of
the environment has become an issue at all levels
of society. Within the field of operations manage-
ment, attention for environmental issues is now
growing rapidly. Operations management is the
process of managing people, resources and produc-
tion systems in order to convert inputs into outputs.
The inputs of the system are energy, materials,
labor, and capital. The outputs of the system are
the products demanded by customers (Nahmias,
2004). Wastes can be produced when converting
raw materials into products and are considered as
non-value-added outputs that create extra costs
to the production of the product. The reduction
or elimination of wastes in the production has
always been a goal in operations management e.g.,
lean manufacturing. In order to provide the best
use of raw materials, operations managers have
to minimize the amount of the waste produced,
namely, to reduce the cost and impact of the waste.
An efficient approach undertaking this target is to
integrate waste management into the operations
management decision. Operations management
deals with the optimization of the manufacturing
process and covers decisions involving production
planning, scheduling, capacity planning, inventory
management, material management, workforce
management, and quality management. It can
be remembered that the traditional objective of
inventory control, scheduling and production
planning is to minimize production costs and
improving measures such as worker idle time,
work-in-process inventory levels, and production
lead times while recognizing constraints such as
limited space. Undoubtedly, by the integration of
waste management into the operations manage-
ment, the objective function should include not
only the cited objectives but also environmental
ones. It is obvious that an operations management
team is not only responsible of the achievement
of the desired products in terms of quality and
•
to create a point of view about the types
of alternative waste management solutions
that can be determined and to show their
benefits,
•
to discuss how the operations management
functions of the facility will be affected by
the implementation of an alternative waste
management solution,
•
to discuss what types of limitations can
be encountered in a facility while imple-
menting an alternative waste management
solution,
•
to give an example about the practicability
of pollution prevention philosophies to the
manufacturing sector.
The presented methodology intends the inte-
gration of environmental management principles
with the operations management. In the next
section, the need for adopting a sustainable de-
velopment perspective is made clear by analyzing
the relationship between environmental costs in
manufacturing decisions. In addition, environ-
mental operations management principles and
criteria affecting the environmental operations
management strategy are described. Next to this
section, the methodology for the environmen-
tally integrated manufacturing system analysis
is presented. After description of the methodol-
ogy, the manufacturing system of a car battery
manufacturing plant is analyzed by using the
given methodology. Finally, the conclusion and
summary of the chapter is given.
