A Systematic Literature Review of Design-Manufacturing Integration for Sustainable Products

Functional integration in Operations Management (OM) is long recognized as a key driver for new product development and manufacturing performance. Design-manufacturing integration (DMI) aspects related to people, technology, and tools occupy the centre stage in New Product Development (NPD) debate, extending beyond the factory walls to the Supply Chain (SC). More recently, the design of environmentally conscious products is gaining prominence in DMI/NPD performance research. However, despite the relevance of the subject, there is still a paucity of rigorous and systematic literature reviews relating DMI and NPD to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This paper aims to contribute to close this gap through a rigorous research synthesis. The Web of Sciences (WoS) database was searched with predefined and reproducible keywords, adhering to a strict protocol. Citation network analysis (CNA) was applied to the selected studies and updated with a search for the process industry in papers from the Chemical Engineering Transactions (CET) and Clean Technology Environmental Policy (CTEP) Journals. Two major research streams were identified through main path analysis. Both research streams underpin the relationships between internal cross-functional coordination, product life-cycle management, and supplier involvement in green products, reverse logistics, and the environment. Searches in keywords of 2013-2014 articles in CET and CTEP Journals confirmed a sustained number of environment-related publications. Directions for future research and an extension of the research to demonstration projects in the process industry are proposed.