Lean-circular maturity model (LCMM) for companies' self-assessment in terms of process, product and life cycle thinking

Abstract

Rapidly diagnosing the status of resource efficiency and waste generation throughout the entire value chain is considered one of the key future advancements towards achieving more sustainable production. This study aimed to develop and implement a self-assessment tool to assist companies in decision-making processes for establishing circular flows based on the principles of Lean Manufacturing (LM) and Circular Economy (CE). The self-assessment tool employed a maturity model comprising several stages, which were designed through a combination of design science research and scenario planning. The Lean-Circular Maturity Model (LCMM) consisted of maturity levels ranging from 0 to 4, assessing strategies such as Resource Efficiency, Energy Management, Water and Wastewater Management, Materials and Solid Waste Management, and Chemicals and Emissions Management. The model was applied to nine companies varying in sector, size, region, and nationality. Their engagement in LM, and CE, differed, as did their strategy maturity metrics. Primary sector companies showed higher maturity in water-waste and chemical-emissions management. Larger enterprises focused on these strategies, with nuances based on region. The main findings indicated that 66% of the companies sought cleaner alternatives prior to mapping their production processes, which could lead to errors in planning and prioritizing improvement actions. Furthermore, 61% of the companies lacked sufficient training and employee awareness regarding the efficient utilization of resources. The absence of comprehensive actions to manage the life cycle of products throughout the value chain emerged as the primary barrier identified. To address these gaps, the LCMM offers a set of tailored recommendations for each company to enhance processes, products, and the value chain based on the final score obtained from utilizing the LCMM self-assessment tool.

Keywords: Circularity; Cradle-to-cradle; Lean management; Maturity level; Sustainability.