An approach to implement cleaner production in services: Integrating quality management process

Abstract

Abstract Currently, society and the market have a holistic view of environmental issues and both are concerned not only with economic benefits but also with the consequences that these benefits have for the environment. The growth of the service sector means that this sector has made an effort to determine and measure the adverse impacts of service rendering on the environment and to minimize these. The cleaner production program uses tools that associate economic, social and environmental benefits to an organization’s activities. This study sets out an approach to implement cleaner production, combining the principles of quality management applied to the processes as set out in Paladini and integrated with the PDCA methodology and cleaner production methodology. It was analyzed in four companies that provide services, related to mass services, professional services, a services factory and a services shop, each of which is representative of a type of service included in Schmenner’s classification of services. Two of the five steps of the proposed approach were used, namely pre-evaluation and evaluation. As a result, it was observed that the organizational culture determines the vision of the purpose of implementing Cleaner Production. In one company, the decreasing of water consumption was more than 4.000 m3/year. It can be affirmed that, as soon as service providers adopt cleaner production, they will become fully aware of the environmental aspects and impacts of their processes and services rendered, and therefore will be able to identify opportunities for reducing costs, thereby helping the organization to achieve responsible and sustainable growth. It is possible that through this practice there will be an increase in competitiveness, reducing production costs and improving the quality of life of the local and global community. Adopting cleaner production means innovating for organizations, as it is a process that requires behavioral change, including all actors involved in the process working towards an efficient and sustainable performance with respect to the resources available in nature.