Sustainability strategies of manufacturing companies on corporate, business and operational level

Int. J. , Vol. x, No. x, xxxx Sustainability strategies of manufacturing companies on corporate, business and operational level Daniella Van der Spiegel Barbara S. Linke* Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA E-mail: dvdspiegel@ucdavis.edu; daniella.van.der.spiegel@rwth- aachen.de E-mail*: bslinke@ucdavis.edu *Corresponding author Jens Stauder Steffen Buchholz Division of Technology Planning, Chair of Manufacturing Technology, Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Steinbachstr. 54A, 52074 Aachen, Germany E-mail: J.Stauder@wzl.rwth-aachen.de E-mail: S.Buchholz@wzl.rwth-aachen.de Abstract: Throughout society sustainability has gained great awareness and consumers expect producing companies to act sustainably. Research has shown that companies are starting to develop and communicate their sustainability agenda, but leaving the customer wondering if and how sustainability is really executed down the line. Therefore, this paper investigates sustainability strategies in manufacturing and their communication by first defining a research methodology and then applying it to a case study. Sustainability goals and strategies are studied on corporate, business and operational level. They are rated on their conveyance and correlation. These results are visualized in a matrix. A case study with the web-based information of 100 companies revealed that energy, waste, and diversity are the most named sustainability goals. Support of charity programs, smarter programming, reuse of waste heat, efficient lighting systems and childcare/ work time models were the most cited sustainability strategies. Copyright © 200x Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.