Track: Sustainability in Operations and Supply Chain

Abstract

A plethora of studies has been conducted to address sustainable product fulfillment. To facilitate the understanding, authors have published their review papers focusing on different issues, e.g., green product design approaches, decision support systems implemented in sustainable manufacturing, cross relationships between product attributes and consumer decision-making. Although these review papers potentially advance research on the respective issues or topics, an overview of the product life cycle stages in sustainable product fulfillment, which were the most frequently examined, is not seen. This study is to review the relevant literature, in attempting to identify these life cycle stages and further explore the relevant issues, such as the methodologies used, the sustainability dimensions (i.e., economic, environmental, and social) considered, and the industries involved. Based on a rigorous search and selection process, 114 papers were retained for analysis. As shown in the results, green consumption was the focus of 54 papers, thus being the most examined stage. It is unexpected to see that the end-of-life treatment stage was discussed in only 5 articles.  Regarding methodologies, quantitative research was the most frequently conducted, contributing to 65 papers. While various industries were involved in the 114 papers, the automotive industry was the study background in 11 papers. Although achieving sustainability from all three dimensions is very important, most of the papers (79 out of 114) considered one or a combination of two dimensions. With the results and analysis, we further shed on the prospects, obstacles, and future directions in facilitating sustainable product fulfillment from all three dimensions of sustainability.