Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment
School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering
School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Abstract
Collaborative manufacturing networks (CMN) are being adopted by numerous manufacturers as a strategy to reduce production cost, be proactive in satisfying customer demands, increase effectiveness and efficiency and gain worldwide distribution. However, waste generated from operational activities in managing global supply chains has become one of the main concerns for many practitioners due to the external pressures: (i) Government Regulatory Systems, (ii) Return of investment and (iii) Environmental awareness from the public. In order to address these emerging environmental issues and economic benefits for return of investment, there is a need to implement sustainable supply chain initiatives within CMN settings.
In this research, the development of an integrated sustainable supply chain management framework in the context of CMN that assists the practitioners for the implementation of sustainable supply chain initiatives throughout their organisations is to be proposed. Specifically, the scope of this research will be focused on the aspects of economic and environmental performance. Further, the capability of the proposed integrated sustainable supply chain management framework for a CMN will be required to be validated through an empirical analysis in order to gain the insight views of managerial decisions.
Finally, the successful delivery of this proposed research will be beneficial to worldwide manufacturing practitioners on improving their sustainable supply chain performances to increase competitive advantages. Furthermore, it will enable practitioners to collaborate with other members easily and efficiently without compromising environmental and economic requirements based on performance measurement.
