Abstract
The rapidly increasing advancements in manufacturing sector has created pressure for manufacturers to rethink and redesign their existing systems in order to cope with the challenges that emerged with globalization and environmental concerns. This trend brought about the introduction of the sustainable manufacturing concept; this concept of sustainable manufacturing is generally referred to as “green business” which emerged towards the end of the 20th century. An increase in customer awareness and pressures from stakeholders shifted manufacturers' focus, as a result, many innovative strategies were brought into the realm of manufacturing systems, such as lean, green, agile, and sustainable manufacturing practices. Sustainable manufacturing has been acclaimed in recent years for its significant benefits directed at triple bottom line factors (social, environmental, and financial) also known as the sustainable development pillars. As one of the top 20 Greenhouse Gases (GHG) polluters and responsible for almost half of the total Carbon emission for Africa, South Africa’s food manufacturing businesses and Government are pushed to strategize on more sustainable manufacturing practices and principles. Even though many studies have been conducted on sustainable manufacturing, the critical assessment conducted in this study posits that there is still a gap to be covered as far as ensuring that all SMEs operating in the manufacturing sector are fully aware, understanding and adhering to the country’s commitment and objectives of sustainable development. However, the fundamental stages of adoption, implementation, and integration of sustainable development concept in food manufacturing SMEs have proven to be rather facing numerous challenges, hence very little execution has been observed. This becomes more important when considering the constant increase in the number of newly registered SME’s in the country. Considering this gap, this study aimed at first theoretically assessing sustainability in food manufacturing SMEs. The results of the critical appraisal of the current literature clearly illustrated that there is a gap in the current body of knowledge particularly with SMEs. The paper sought more understanding through deepening in literature review of the key parameters, and later formulated a survey, which was distributed within the Gauteng region. Feedback from 81 copies was received and analysed for descriptive data, factor exploratory analysis and reliability test. The results showed that the concept of sustainable development is not yet fully understood especially in the South African narrative and objectives. This is due to the lack of visibility, information and support from Government, where SMEs felt less involved thus disengaged. This paper therefore recommended that sustainable development be introduced to main stream education from primary school phase, involve SMEs even at...
M.Tech.