International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (IJIEM), Vol. 4 No 3, 2013, pp. 183-190 Available online at www.iim.ftn.uns.ac.rs/ijiem_journal.php ISSN 2217-2661 IJIEM UDK: 502.131.1:677 Sustainable Work Environment with Lean Production in Textile and Clothing Industry Laura C. Maia Centre for Industrial and Technology Management (CITM), School of Engineering of University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal, lauracostamaia@gmail.com Anabela C. Alves Centre for Industrial and Technology Management (CITM), School of Engineering of University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal, anabela@dps.uminho.pt Celina P. Leão Centro ALGORITMI, School of Engineering of University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal, cpl@dps.uminho.pt Received (18 October 2012); Revised (19 December 2012); Accepted (11 March 2013) Abstract The objective of this paper is to discuss Lean Production (LP) as a work organizational model that fosters a sustainable work environment in the companies. This is achievable through some Lean tools and initiatives that, when applied to the work environment reduces the energy, water consumption, environmental waste and raw-materials consumption and improves leanness and agility. This paper focuses the Textile and Clothing Industry (TCI) and brings up proposals, initiatives and/or projects that are related with Lean Production aims. Traditionally, TCI had been greatly dependent on natural resources: natural fibers, dyes, water, energy among others and a high consumer of water and energy, especially in dyeing and finishing processes. At the same time, these processes have a water and soil pollution problem. In this manner, reduce the consumption of these resources and reduce pollutants should be a major concern for companies and individuals to achieve a sustainable development. In this paper, the authors also present some proposals of how companies may engage in such projects. Key words: Lean Production; Sustainability; Eco-efficiency, Textile and Clothing Industry. 1. INTRODUCTION Lean Production (LP) [1] is a model of organization focused on waste elimination to reduce costs, delivering on time quality products, materials and information and respecting people and the environment. Wastes, from the point of view of customer, are activities that add no value to the products. This designation comes from the key idea of “doing more with less” where less implies less space occupied, less transports, less inventories, and most important, less human effort and less natural resources. One of the paper objectives is to review some of the Lean tools and initiatives that are totally aligned with sustainable development and eco-efficiency concept. A further objective is to describe and discuss some identified projects and standards that are applied/developed for the Portuguese Textile and Clothing Industry (TCI). The presented proposals were integrated and classified according to their objective that could be the reduction of: energy and water consumption; environmental waste; raw materials consumption; and/or the improvement of leanness and agility. This research is based on literature review gathered from different sources (local, internet…) and of projects related with the reduction of wastes, in all kinds. The paper is structured in five sections. This first section introduces the theme and objectives. The second section presents the context study and motivation. The third presents a brief literature review about Lean Production, sustainable development and eco-efficiency concepts and the synergy between these issues. The fourth presents the results of the search of projects in TCI and explore the different proposals attending to their objectives. The fifth, last section, presents some concluding remarks. 2. CONTEXT STUDY AND MOTIVATION This study focuses the Portuguese TCI that has a large representation in the Portuguese industry and it always had an important role in national economy. Although suffering transformation due to delocalization and closure of companies, this industry continues to be one of the most important Portuguese manufacturing industries.