Smart production strategies for economic growth and environmental sustainability

Abstract

This study examines sustainable strategies in a flexible production inventory system to reduce carbon emissions and enhance economic performance. As the need for sustainability in manufacturing intensifies, integrating green technologies and renewable energy sources into production processes emerges as a critical strategy for reducing environmental impact. One significant challenge is the disposal of defective products, which contribute to environmental degradation. To address this, the study proposes a defect management strategy that categorizes defective items into reworkable and recyclable products, offering an opportunity to reduce waste and generate additional revenue. By reprocessing these items into valuable outputs, this strategy not only mitigates environmental degradation but also supports sustainable business growth. A mathematical model is developed to optimize key factors such as selling price, green technology investment, flexible production rates, and production cycles, aiming to maximize overall profit while minimizing carbon emissions. Through in-depth numerical analysis, the study compares different scenarios to assess the economic and environmental benefits of the proposed strategy. The results show that failing to adopt renewable energy reduces profits by 6.53%, excluding defect management strategies leads to a 10.40% profit decrease, and not implementing green technologies results in an 11.31% profit loss. The combination of both defect management and green technologies yields a 12.64% reduction in profits. These findings underscore the significant potential of incorporating sustainable practices in manufacturing, offering a dual advantage of enhancing profitability while minimizing environmental impact.