Implementing sustainable manufacturing practices in a printing company: A case study

The purpose of this paper is to develop an in-depth understanding of how manufacturing practices are affected when a company introduces environmental and social sustainability targets into its business operations. In specific, the study will focus on the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices (SMP), the benefits of such implementation as well as the challenges or barriers to implementing SMP.A single case study analysis was conducted to get a deeper insight into the subject matters.Meeting the predetermined criteria, one small-sized manufacturing company which involves in printing industry was chosen to be a case in this study. Interview and field observation was conducted to collect primary data.The results showed that the introduction of sustainability goals led to the changes in manufacturing practices in the company studied. The company studied adopted the various SMP including eco-printing, ecolamination and engaged in some CSR projects. The commitment to the sustainable solution and engaging with sustainability effort in its daily operations increase the company’s revenues as well as reduce resource consumption and waste generation, and improve social sustainability especially related to employees and suppliers.The findings of this study also revealed two main challenges or barriers in engaging with sustainable effort i.e. financial constraint and market constraint. This study provides a good foundation to understand the SMP and their contribution to sustainability performance particularly in the context of Malaysia in the printing industry