Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study
This paper’s purpose is to outline the use of the Design for Green Lean Six Sigma (DFGLSS) to evaluate bulk pharmaceutical product packaging and ascertain a path to its reduction and even elimination to improve an organisation’s sustainability. The methodology employed was DFGLSS using the Define, M...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2025.2461010 |
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| author | Yvonne McGlinchey Javed Iqbal Anna Trubetskaya M Thenarasu Olivia McDermott |
| author_facet | Yvonne McGlinchey Javed Iqbal Anna Trubetskaya M Thenarasu Olivia McDermott |
| author_sort | Yvonne McGlinchey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper’s purpose is to outline the use of the Design for Green Lean Six Sigma (DFGLSS) to evaluate bulk pharmaceutical product packaging and ascertain a path to its reduction and even elimination to improve an organisation’s sustainability. The methodology employed was DFGLSS using the Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify steps. The packaging type responsible for the highest sustainability impact was identified and replaced, resulting in a decrease in overall carbon emissions associated with packaging. Adopting a reuse strategy for this packaging type resulted in cost savings, further reductions in carbon emissions, and in the total weight of bulk packaging waste. This study is one of the first, to the author’s knowledge, to apply DFGLSS within a pharmaceutical organisation or elsewhere and within the wider academic literature to improve sustainability. Thus, it contributes to a research gap by demonstrating how DFGLSS can be successfully applied to promote sustainability in pharmaceutical packaging and product packaging in general. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d3b54bb0a015434a9743235c697ef12e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2169-3277 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-d3b54bb0a015434a9743235c697ef12e2025-01-31T09:55:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupProduction and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal2169-32772025-12-0113110.1080/21693277.2025.2461010Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case studyYvonne McGlinchey0Javed Iqbal1Anna Trubetskaya2M Thenarasu3Olivia McDermott4School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandDepartment of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Technological University of the Shannon, Limerick, IrelandSchool of Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, IndiaCollege of Science & Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, IrelandThis paper’s purpose is to outline the use of the Design for Green Lean Six Sigma (DFGLSS) to evaluate bulk pharmaceutical product packaging and ascertain a path to its reduction and even elimination to improve an organisation’s sustainability. The methodology employed was DFGLSS using the Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify steps. The packaging type responsible for the highest sustainability impact was identified and replaced, resulting in a decrease in overall carbon emissions associated with packaging. Adopting a reuse strategy for this packaging type resulted in cost savings, further reductions in carbon emissions, and in the total weight of bulk packaging waste. This study is one of the first, to the author’s knowledge, to apply DFGLSS within a pharmaceutical organisation or elsewhere and within the wider academic literature to improve sustainability. Thus, it contributes to a research gap by demonstrating how DFGLSS can be successfully applied to promote sustainability in pharmaceutical packaging and product packaging in general.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2025.2461010Design for lean six sigma; pharmaceuticalDMADVgreen lean six sigmapackagingsustainability |
| spellingShingle | Yvonne McGlinchey Javed Iqbal Anna Trubetskaya M Thenarasu Olivia McDermott Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study Production and Manufacturing Research: An Open Access Journal Design for lean six sigma; pharmaceutical DMADV green lean six sigma packaging sustainability |
| title | Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study |
| title_full | Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study |
| title_fullStr | Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study |
| title_short | Design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry – a case study |
| title_sort | design for green lean six sigma to improve sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry a case study |
| topic | Design for lean six sigma; pharmaceutical DMADV green lean six sigma packaging sustainability |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21693277.2025.2461010 |
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