I. K. Hui

A study of the Environmental Management System implementation practices

Abstract This paper is based on a survey to analyze the current Environmental Management System (EMS), or Green Manufacturing (GM), practices in Hong Kong. The survey focuses, in particular, on the investigation of: (i) the critical factors that most companies have considered in implementing the GM or EMS; (ii) the benefits that the companies have targeted in implementing the GM/EMS; (ii) the business activities that the companies have carried out in striving for the targeted benefits; and (iv) the business benefits attainable in the implementation of the GM/EMS. The study results show that most of the companies used in the survey have a positive attitude towards the implementation of the GM/EMS. The majority of them also consider that GM/EMS can effectively strengthen their competitiveness in business.

Development of an EMS planning framework for environmental management practices

The increasing consciousness of sustainable development and reconciling production with ecosystem conservation have fostered the adoption and implementation of environmental management systems (EMS). This paper investigates the critical processes and factors that may affect EMS planning. Empirical findings of a recent study in Hong Kong are presented, and a five‐stage EMS planning framework starting from strategy formulation to system implementation and evaluation is proposed. The framework integrates various perspectives of environmental management and strategy formulation. The paper provides organisations with a procedural guide for implementing environmental management practices. Flexible adaptation of the framework can help organisations derive potential benefits from the EMS implementation leading to sustainable competitive advantage. The framework can be modified to cater for varied business nature and operations in industry.

Integrating the safety dimension into quality management systems: A process model

Many practitioners advocate that achieving quality and safety performance can help organizations foster a competitive edge. This is attributable to the minimization of financial loss, compliance with legislation, effective allocation of quality and safety responsibilities, and promotion of community goodwill. This paper discusses the factors affecting safety-quality integration in quality management systems. It also compares the compliance requirements of OHSAS 18001 occupational health and safety management standard with that of ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental) management standards. Incorporating the empirical findings from a recent study in Hong Kong, the paper examines the hypothesized links among company size, safety/quality awareness and interrelationship of various factors affecting safety/quality management practices. Finally, a process model of safety-focused quality management (SQM) is proposed along with an implementation guideline. The model is generic in nature and can be applied and modified to suit organizations of different business nature, sizes and locations.

An analytical hierarchy process assessment of the ISO 14001 environmental management system

Nowadays, designing and manufacturing of environmental friendly products has become an integral part of business strategy. Increasing consciousness of environmental protection has fostered the development of environmental management systems (EMS). In this paper, the critical decision criteria, sub‐criteria and benefits of ISO 14001 EMS were studied using an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach. An empirical study was performed to investigate the relative weights and priorities of these criteria and benefits. An AHP decision model of EMS adoption was established, and a set of decision criteria, sub‐criteria and benefits of ISO 14001 EMS was examined. By consolidating the acquired judgements of executives and consultants from a number of ISO 14001 registered organizations, this paper demonstrates that the AHP decision model can be developed to help organizations study the ISO 14001 EMS adoption problem. The decision criteria and benefits of the adoption can be assessed in an analytical way.

A multiple-criteria environmental impact assessment for the plastic injection molding process : a methodology

Abstract This paper proposes a multiple-criteria methodology for evaluating environmental impacts in the plastic injection molding process (PIMP) and incorporates the findings of an empirical study conducted in Hong Kong. The paper identifies and explains various indicators of environmental impact assessment and establishes a multiple-criteria rating matrix. It then elaborates on the implementation of a pilot program and discusses the relevance of the methodology inside and outside of the work environment. Results show that the methodology provides manufacturers with a feasible means to assess their environmental performance and perform benchmarking analysis. The methodology can also be modified and applied in different industry sectors.

Hierarchical environmental impact evaluation of a process in printed circuit board manufacturing

Considering the growing concerns and importance of environmental issues, manufacturing industrialists, in particular those in electronics manufacturing, are seeking methods to evaluate the environmental performance of their manufacturing processes. These environmental evaluation tools should be capable of performing detailed analysis on the environmental performance of each individual process unit, identifying the environmental improvement opportunity and providing adequate decision support to environmental engineers for process modification and operational change. This paper modifies and improves the environmental impact evaluation model already developed and provides directions for decision-making at various stages of the analysis. The decision algorithm in this revised model adopts a hierarchical environmental impact evaluation approach and uses five impact categories related to ecological health and seven categories related to human health to form the base of an evaluation hierarchy. The algorithm, with its evaluation results presented in all levels of the hierarchy, is proposed as a means of tracking, controlling and improving the environmental performance of a process. A printed circuit board case study shows the effectiveness and applicability of the algorithm. The results indicate that the electroless copper process has a higher impact on ecological health than on human health, and that the phosphoric acid in the waste components is the identified major source of the impact on ecological health.

Monitoring the supply of products in a supply chain environment: a fuzzy neural approach

The fuzzy logic is applied to resolve the monitoring problem of products quality and products quantity increasingly varying as market requirement. A series of fuzzy rules are employed and the fuzzy system may generate suggested supply change rate. At the same time, the operation of supplier is also dynamically changing and the evaluation and selection for supplier are the basis of supply –chain co-operation. So whether it is scientific to select a supplier is crucial for sustaining and developing a company. Therefore, in this paper the neural network is introduced to dynamically assess suppliers and recommend to substituting for new ones when necessary, only supplementing fuzzy logic system with its advantages. This paper describes the methodology for the deployment of this proposed hybrid approach to enhance the machine intelligence of a supply chain network with the description of a case study to exemplify its underlying principles.

On an adaptive product development system: a hybrid database approach

Getting the right information at the right time is one of the success factors of product development. However, there exist a great variety of data formats which make the bi‐directional data interchange among various development groups inefficient and costly. Due to the lack of adequate product and engineering data, design practitioners may find it difficult to transform the customer’s requirements to a value‐added product. This paper attempts to propose a hybrid database approach (HDA) to support effective data exchange among a case based reasoning knowledge repository and a corporate relational database model, presenting an integrated view of a company’s knowledge sources so as to enable better decision‐making by providing immediate access to key business information. To introduce machine learning capability to the whole system, case based reasoning (CBR) is embraced to capture past experience and knowledge for case matching in terms of product development issues. The significance of this research is the provision of a cross‐platform data exchange system, which is able to facilitate the creation of a conducive product development environment.

Quality management framework for a virtual enterprise network: a multi‐agent approach

Globalization and the borderless marketplace have created an opportunity for companies to come together to work on projects that could otherwise not be completed through the efforts of one or two companies acting independently. The formation of virtual enterprise networks combines the advantages of the various core competencies of members of the network to deliver customer satisfaction. Virtual enterprise networks consist of several firms that can be geographically dispersed, and that might be technically disparate in terms of system platforms. Coordination among members of the network and the the transfer of quality products and services among members of the network are the key factors in achieving success. The proposed framework presented in this paper utilizes a multi‐agent model to monitor quality within a virtual enterprise network to ensure that the processes among members run smoothly and efficiently.

Dynamic tool management in FMS-a practical approach

A dynamic tool management system was investigated for multiple job manufacturing in a FMS. The system uses the constructive solid geometry CAD model and flexible classification mechanism to recognize job machining features and the corresponding cutting tools. The job order is designed from an assigned priority weight and which is defined from fuzzy rules. The operations of the highest priority jobs are then assigned to the idle machines under a real time scheduling method. The results from a five jobs-three machines job scheduling study indicated that a high machine utilization can be achieved, and the required tool quantify and tool switch between machines were significantly reduced.