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Green logistics is an important aspect of production system in today’s world. It combines various efforts to quantify and control the environmental effect of production activities in an enterprise. This research is intended to emphasize upon the ways by which organizations can accomplish positive ecological effects simply by modifying their logistics practices. This paper presents a case study of an Indian automobile company by analyzing alternatives for green practices along with organizational objectives. It is imperative to focus on the green practices in context of Indian automobile sector as the volume of vehicles in India has increased considerably during last few decades. Accordingly, this paper attempts to improve the performance for sustainable adaptation of green practices of an Indian company by selecting the best alternative obtained from the use of Analytical Hierarchy Process to analyze alternatives for green practices in the assembly and packaging processes. Alternatives have been evaluated on the basis of three criteria i.e. green efficiency, factor of safety and ease of operation. The study revealed that clinch joint is the most appropriate alternative for assembly operation while carbon positive packaging material is the best alternative for packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium enterprises are fundamental to economic growth and job generation, especially in developing countries. These companies are crucial for the improvement of social conditions and technological development in poorer regions of the Americas, Asia and Africa. However, local conditions are usually very specific and demand a singular approach for sustainability. This paper presents some results of a research aimed at investigating methodologies and tools to support the application of Design for Sustainability principles adapted to the real conditions of Brazilian small and medium enterprises. These enterprises are mainly based on traditional products and technologies. The results of this research were achieved through identifying elements for development of a sustainable approach, with a focus on design of products in Brazil and other developing countries. The methodology considered variables specifically linked to the local situation. The primary focus was on small companies working in traditional production processes (or craftsmanship) in Minas Gerais State, in southeast Brazil. Four main sustainability aspects were considered: environmental, economic, social and cultural. As a conclusion, three cases of intervention focused on sustainable improvement are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]