Abstract

Competitiveness, productivity and internal factors such as human capital, operational management practices and commitment to the environment have placed the managers of manufacturing companies in a position where they must make decisions aimed at maintaining the balance with all these elements. , in turn, reducing costs and increasing profitability for interested groups (Martínez, Val Arreola, Tzintzun, Conejo and Tena, 2015). In this order of ideas, the negative repercussions of industrial production on the environment and sustainability of the human being on the planet, requires urgent measures that contribute to reducing these consequences, taking manufacturing processes as a fundamental basis. Regarding the petrochemical industry in the Colombian Caribbean Region and according to the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Colombia (ANDI), it makes up the manufacture of a large number of raw materials, intermediate and final goods, including plastic, which represents approximately 35% of the country's production and 35% as exports (Mac Master, 2017). In this sense, the union states that Colombia has before it an invaluable opportunity to promote the strengthening of the competitiveness of intermediate areas such as plastic, paint and rubber, thus offering a higher level of added value to the economy, however, it is still necessary to promote strategies that allow this industry to be inserted into global value chains (Mac Master, 2017). Among these sectors, plastic has been one of the materials that has generated the greatest impact on nature, affecting not only ecosystems, but also the individuals themselves, such as the ingestion of microplastics that are present in some foods (Cox et al., 2019). Consequently, the reality of efficient manufacturing processes in the plastics industry not only affects the productivity and competitiveness of the sector, but it can also be inferred that it has a negative impact on the operational and financial dimension of the company. seeks to make an exhaustive review of the state of the art about the relationship of these two factors. That is why, fundamentally, this work provides a required entry from the theoretical and that will be used to contrast and validate the hypotheses raised in a study of a Doctoral Thesis in Industrial Engineering Doctoral Thesis in Industrial Engineering that evaluates the Impact generated by Lean tools and of Environmental Management in operational, market and financial performance in manufacturing companies in the city of Cartagena de Indias-Colombia, considering the application of a conceptual model from which hypotheses will be validated and related conclusions will be obtained.