The influence of manufacturing plant site selection on environmental impact of machining processes

Sustainability has become an important aspect in the strategic planning of manufacturing organizations due to rising energy cost, climate change, environmental emissions, and carbon tax policies. Most of the large manufacturing organizations have a worldwide network of factories, which is mainly driven by financial and political aspects. In past few decades, many attempts have been made to improve the sustainability of the manufacturing processes with consideration of carbon efficiency, energy efficiency, and cost effectiveness. The influence of the manufacturing plant site on the environmental sustainability of the manufacturing process is not considered in most site selection decisions despite its importance in improving the sustainability of production networks. This paper investigates the site based factors to influence the environmental sustainability of a machining process and the effect of these factors is analyzed using life cycle assessment. A case study is conducted with eight different cases based on the location of raw material, manufacturing site, and customers in India and Germany. Four key influencing factors are identified and the environmental impact of the milling process is assessed. One of the key findings is the significant influence of climate and the supply chain on the environmental sustainability of the machining process. This study can be used to include the environmental performance of the machining process into the strategic planning of new manufacturing plants.