Environmental Management Integrated System

Lean environmental management systems integration for sustainable implementation of the ISO 14001:2004 Integrated System standard detailing the criteria for developing an environmental management system (EMS). This is very important because it defines how the EMS should be managed and how the organization should be structured to be more environmentally sensitive. ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard; therefore, organizations are not required by law to adopt these standards. The standards do not have specific performance measures, but are primarily concerned with managerial processes rather than specifying environmental outcomes and consequences. This is one of the main criticisms of the standard. Various research studies have cast doubt on the benefits and sustainability of ISO 14001 certification. Several studies have accused the standard of not focusing on the environmental performance of an organization or company (Krut & Gleckman, 2002). Rondinelli and Vastag (2000) claim that the standard assumes Integrated System that certified companies have a management system in place to measure their environmental outcomes and effects. The main factor that makes standards unsustainable is the fact that they do not specify environmental performance measures for organizations. Environmental measurement systems are evolving faster than ever, but most of today’s measurement systems still fail to provide important information. For example, most existing environmental data sources were originally designed to monitor regulatory compliance, not measure environmental performance. Measuring environmental performance allows management to identify program successes and failures, and assess the degree of achievement of environmental objectives. Efficiency is an important dimension in manufacturing. Lean manufacturing focuses on eliminating waste from organizational processes with a view to providing more value to customers. Thus, integrating Lean with ISO 14001 Integrated System standards will make the standard more sustainable as it is customer oriented, which is consistent with the goals of many organizations (Simpson & Power, 2005; Shah & Ward, 2007). Research conducted by Puvanasvaran, Kerk, Suresh and Muhamad (2012) lean principles have a positive and very significant relationship with ISO 14001 requirements. Integration of lean principles in ISO-14001 will be a practical method for ISO14001 EMS to achieve continuous improvement (Puvanasvaran et al. , 2012). Implementing lean principles requires an organization to identify all the processes involved in converting raw materials into finished products for customers. This lean environmental management system integration process is known as value stream mapping. Integrating Lean with the ISO 14001 standard ensures that the environmental impacts of all processes leading to product Integrated System delivery to customers are identified and dealt with effectively (Sroufe, 2003; Montabon, Sroufe & Narasimhan, 2007). This will result in higher environmental performance of the organization. Puvanasvaran, Kerk and Muhamad (2011) the effectiveness of integrating Lean and EMS can be realized by adopting processes and procedures designed to eliminate waste and create an economically sustainable work environment.