Lean manufacturing practices, ISO 14001, and environmental performance in Malaysian automotive suppliers

Abstract

Lean manufacturing practices (LMPs) focus on the systematic elimination of waste and non-value added activity from the production process in order improve environmental performance (EP). Meanwhile, ISO 14001 is an international standard that assists managers to reduce environmental impact and to expand business. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between LMP, ISO 14001, and EP for Malaysian automotive suppliers. In this study, 275 sets of questionnaires were successfully collected, being a 68.8% response rate. The structural equation modelling technique was utilized to perform the statistical analysis of the data survey. Reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were carried out. The results showed that the impact of LMP implementation on EP increases with the mediation of ISO 14001 in Malaysian automotive suppliers. Thus, this research, which has undergone detailed methodological analysis, contributes to the limited existing literature on the relationship between LMP, ISO 14001, and EP in Malaysian automotive suppliers.