Lean & Green in agribusiness: a framework to aggregate value with less environmental impact in small and medium farms

• Grant number: 22/04286-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Diogo Aparecido Lopes Silva
• Grantee: Guilherme Andreazza de Freitas
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências em Gestão e Tecnologia (CCGT). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Campus de Sorocaba. Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Agribusiness has historically been one of the pillars of Brazilian socioeconomic growth, affecting the country's employability and productivity. So, it is necessary to look for ways to increase its efficiency and quality, focusing on the minimization of production costs. In this context, Lean Manufacturing becomes an instrument capable of providing the necessary tools and concepts to achieve these objectives, with emphasis on Lean Agro. However, sustainability is gaining more strength, and it is important to consider, in addition to the impacts on profit, the environmental ones. It is in this reality that the term Lean & Green arises, which aims to unite the concepts of lean production with those of environmentally sustainable development. Thus, this research project aims to combine Lean Agro with Lean & Green, making a Lean & Green Agro framework for application in national agribusiness companies. To this end, this project will be carried out in three phases: Phase 1: create a comparative matrix between international articles that address the topic of Lean & Green in agribusiness and, from that, in Phase 2, the main knowledge will be synthesized via data triangulation to the formation of a framework indicating stages, activities and Lean & Green tools most suitable for application in the context of national agribusiness and an online tool for use in future situations. Finally, Phase 3, through a case study, in a small orange farm located in the region of Aracaju (SE), the developed framework will be tested in practice. From this, the expected result is to promote better production conditions, aiming at cost reduction and the development of environmentally sustainable production in agribusiness.