Developing a Structural Framework for Evaluating and Benchmarking the Greenness of Manufactured Products

This paper aims to develop a structural framework for evaluating and benchmarking the greenness of manufactured products that supports sustainability-oriented decision-making in industrial decisions and operations.A hierarchical structural framework is developed using graph theory and a matrix approach to develop a Product Greenness Index (PGI).Thirty key performance indicators (GI i ) that cover the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of greenness are assessed.Two matrices, namely, the PGI and the Product Greenness Index Ratio (PGIR), are developed for evaluating and benchmarking the greenness of products.A case example involving two automotive component manufacturers (Firm A and Firm B) illustrates the benchmarking capability of the model.The results indicate that both firms scored well below the ideal benchmark of 2.066 for aggregate weighted KPI scores, with Firm B attaining a score of 1.171 (56.7%) and Firm A achieving 0.752 (36.4%), indicating a substantial performance gap from the defined sustainability target.Building on these aggregated KPI scores, Firm B achieved a higher PGI of 6.254 × 10¹² alongside a PGIR of 0.094, compared to a PGI of 4.845 × 10¹² and a PGIR of 0.073 attained by Firm A. These findings demonstrate the model's benchmarking capability in quantifying product greenness and identifying meaningful improvement opportunities across manufacturing firms.The model provides industry practitioners with a decision support tool to benchmark the greenness of a product against competitors or internal targets.It enables design-stage interventions that align product development with corporate sustainability goals, and it is clear and regulated.This research work contributes to the sustainable operations literature by introducing a novel graph-theoretical framework to product-level sustainability assessment.The integration of benchmarking into product business valuation distinguishes this work from other models focused solely on environmental performance assessment.