Abstract
Environment awareness is of the utmost importance to all socially responsible
manufacturers. To be competitive on a global scale manufacturing needs to be aligned with
various strict environmental regulations. The manufacturing industry at large is striving to
improve productivity and product quality while maintaining a clean and sustainable
environment. This can only be achieved by adopting sustainable techniques of manufacturing
which include minimizing the number of manufacturing steps by employing advanced and
alternative methods, environment-friendly lubricants and lubrication techniques while
machining, reducing wastage, active waste management and minimizing energy consumption
etc. Gear manufacturing industries, the major service providers to all other industrial and
manufacturing segments are also focusing on to implement the techniques targeting overall
sustainability. Some of the recent developments to achieve sustainability in gear
manufacturing can be summarized as reducing the use of mineral-based cutting fluids by
employing alternative lubrication techniques i.e. minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and
dry machining; material saving, waste reduction, minimizing energy consumption and
maintaining economic efficiency by reducing the number of gear manufacturing stages
(eliminating the necessity of finishing processes) by utilizing advanced methods such as gear
rolling and wire electric-discharge machining (WEDM) and finally increasing productivity by
minimizing tool wear at high gear cutting speeds through the use of alternative tool materials
and coatings. This paper reviews and amasses the current state of technology for sustainable
manufacturing of gears and also recommends ways to improve the productivity and quality
while simultaneously ensuring environmental sustainability.