Lean management as a framework to implement sustainability for SMEs

With the energy transition to meet net-zero mission, law and regulations has forced SMEs to implement sustainability concept through various tool and technique such as clean technology. Despite proving to reduce energy consumption cost and to be “highly beneficial” for sustainable development, SMEs faces challenges and limitation such as infrastructure and implementation cost in which the latter is the main constraint for SMEs. Therefore, this independent study explores one of thealternatives found to align well with sustainable initiatives which is Lean Management with the integration of Green approach. The purpose is to delve into Green Lean management and propose process to enhance sustainability for SMEs. The Green Leanframework is then developed to reduce waste and resources to improve corporate’s financial and sustainability performance while sustainability concept allows the enhanced process and results to be achieved in a long run. The methodology of in-depth case study is adopted to explore the relationship of the two variables: Lean tool andsustainability performance and understand how Lean impact sustainability. The interview is conducted on logistic process of a tapioca starch manufacturing company which is analyzed by finding common pattern in data and grouped them into theme without “pre-conception. ” In conclusion, it is found that Lean implementation haspositive impacts on reducing cost of 245,568 baht and carbon emission by 2,931 kg. The impacts on social aspect are also palpable such as better employee’s well-being. However, it has not been yet measured for analysis. Therefore, the solution of developing employees’ skills and knowledge on dust explosion prevention and Kaizen is proposed to promote sustainability impacts in the long run.