Identification and prioritization of sustainable production components in corrugated board making industries

Various corrugated board making units operate in a wide range from small workshops to large industrial units in the country. These units possess the necessary conditions to play an effective role in economic growth, job creation and development of export markets. Introducing the components and sub-components that affect the sustainability of production in this industry can be a roadmap for the business activities of those interested in this type of business. The purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize the components and sub-components of production sustainability in corrugated board making industries, to determine their current position by evaluating the different operations management activities and monitoring sustainable production performance in order to achieve the desired levels of production sustainability of carton manufacturing units. By studying and reviewing the available literature and sources, seven main components affecting the sustainability of production in the corrugated board making industry, namely regulations, economic, environmental, technological, social, human, material and product, and 43 sub-components were identified by setting up a researcher made questionnaire. The questionnaire construction and distribution among the managers and experts of the industry with the aim of influencing each component and sub-component on production stability and their current status were investigated and the results were analyzed with the relevant tests. Based on the findings of the research, all the components affecting the sustainability of production based on the standard coefficients and significance of the structural equations as well as the predictive criterion of verification and quality of the data presented with the redundancy index with cross-validity have the necessary validity for prediction. The prioritization of components based on the rank average and the distance to the sustainability of the economic, material, product and technological components showed the lowest distance and the environmental components, rules and regulations showed the greatest distance to achieve sustainability in the carton industry. Therefore, in order to achieve the sustainability of production in the industry of environmental components, laws and regulations should be paid more attention. Corrugated board making companies can take advantage of the results of this research in order to achieve sustainable production. Therefore, by examining and analyzing their current situation, they determine the position of their organization in terms of the components and sub-components of production sustainability, and then to achieve a better position, they fix the deficiencies and related problems by determining and implementing projects.