Energy and utility management maturity model for sustainable manufacturing process

The manufacturing industry, one of the top consumers of natural resources, produces extensive carbon emissions that create the need for a sustainable manufacturing process, a topic of significant research interest. In the recent decades, the advancement of environmental technology and introduction of comprehensive environmental management systems have highlighted the intangible benefits of environmental management practices and their potential to drive organizational competitiveness. Accumulating evidence on the potential benefits of environmental protectionism has given rise to a series of environmental management practices and systems, such as energy informatics, environmental management standardization frameworks, and green supplier management and collaboration. However, existing literature lacks a clear conceptualization and a coherent theoretical framework of environmental management. In addition, no systematic framework exists for the design and implementation of environmental management practices that guide organizations in deciding on the practices or systems that they should implement given their organizational situations. Thus, this study aims to develop an energy and utility maturity framework for systematic measurement and management of natural resource consumption. Specifically, the proposed framework, energy and utility management maturity model (EUMMM), was designed based on the capability maturity model integration (CMMI). EUMMM has two major functions. First, it provides an assessment framework for analyzing the maturity level of energy and utility management in organizations. Second, it provides a progressive framework to guide organizational advancement in energy and utility management. A collaborative pilot study was conducted to validate the effectiveness, practicability, and convenience of the EUMMM. The results indicated that EUMMM successfully led the participating companies to move along the environmental management maturity path. Theoretically, this study extends the application of CMMI to the context of natural resource management and develops a progressive framework for energy and utility management maturation. Practically, this study provides a robust guideline for practitioners in analyzing and advancing energy and utility maturity levels to achieve a sustainable manufacturing process. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.