Procedure for Selecting Key Performance Indicators for Sustainable Manufacturing

Abstract

The need for an open, inclusive, and neutral procedure in selecting key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustainable manufacturing has been increasing. The reason is that manufacturers seek to determine what to measure to improve environmental sustainability of their products and manufacturing processes. A difficulty arises in understanding and selecting specific indicators from many stand-alone indicator sets available. This paper presents a procedure for individual manufacturers to select KPIs for measuring, monitoring, and improving environmental aspects of manufacturing processes. The procedure is the basis for a guideline, being proposed for standardization within ASTM International. That guide can be used for (1) identifying candidate KPIs from existing sources, (2) defining new candidate KPIs, (3) selecting appropriate KPIs based on KPI criteria, and (4) composing the selected KPIs with assigned weights into a set. The paper explains how the developed procedure complements existing indicator sets and sustainability-measurement approaches at the manufacturing process level.