Sustainable manufacturing and the role of theInternational Journal of Production Research

This paper reviews the broad range of literature related to sustainable manufacturing published in the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) over the past 50 years. It establishes research frontiers and contributions in the topic of sustainable manufacturing and the related impact to environmental sustainability. With the growing concern of the environmental impact of factors such as pollution and waste, the research areas of sustainable manufacturing and efficient resource utilisation have become significantly more important over the last decade. Whereas early papers focused on safety, workplace, design, and process improvements, research today focuses on ergonomics, intelligence, global manufacturing, environmental challenges, design for sustainability, product life cycle management, and green supply chain management. The paper also briefly surveys existing approaches and identifies commonly used analytical tools and methodologies.