Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices in Malaysian palm oil mills (POMs) by comparing the status of their current achievements and the levels of priority placed on their practices. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was used to collect data about 20 sustainable manufacturing practices from 51 POMs located in Malaysia. A five-point Likert scale was considered for recording variations in priorities and current practices with regard to sustainable manufacturing. A Cronbach’s α reliability test and a binomial test were undertaken to assess the internal consistency and the validity of the survey data. Spearman’s ρ correlation analysis was employed to determine the linear correlation between each of the sustainability practices identified. Factor analysis was conducted to reduce the number of sustainable manufacturing practices based on factor loading and to derive a clustering of these factors. Findings: The results showed that employees’ well-being has the highest level in terms of both priority and current achievement. However, for other sustainable manufacturing practices, there was a difference where the current achievement of these practices in the Malaysian POMs was seen to be slightly lower than the priority given to them. Strong correlation of significant value was observed between the minimization of production waste and pollution prevention practices. From factor analysis, 15 practices of high factor loading were grouped into a proactive sustainability strategy and a preventive sustainability strategy. Research limitations/implications: The study was still relatively exploratory. Future studies could investigate the barriers to the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices at Malaysian POMs. The sample, which consisted of 51 Malaysian POMs, represented an important sector of the Malaysian economy. Reliance on stated, rather than revealed, preferences may limit the implications of the analysis undertaken for this study, but it does represent a major step forward in understanding the past in what was a highly recommended sector for investigation due to the paucity of extant data. A more broadly based, random sample of POMs from other countries would provide a better understanding of issues related to sustainable manufacturing practices. Practical implications: The results of this study can be used by practitioners to adjust the sustainable manufacturing practices currently applied and further studies may go on to examine the reasons and implications for discrepancies between priorities and desired sustainability goals in more detail. Originality/value: The survey conducted about sustainable manufacturing practices amongst Malaysian POMs was focussed on the three dimensions of sustainability, namely, the economic, environmental, and social elements involved.

Purpose: Food industry players obtain the advantages of profits growth within the halal industry whereby the market is dynamic to generate profit. Hence, this study aims to analyse the perception of food manufacturers towards the adoption of the halal food supply chain (HFSC). Design/methodology/approach: For this study, 103 halal food manufacturers in Malaysia were selected as respondents. Perceptions of respondents towards HFSC were recorded using a five-point questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed by authors and adapted from a previous study. The questionnaire was circulated by two experts with proficiency in this filed. Findings: By conducting exploratory factor analysis, the study found the perception of food manufacturers, which is expected business benefits play an important role in the adoption of HFSC. Halal integrity becomes the second factor to lead the company to its adoption. Organizational readiness is the third factor that drives the company to adopt HFSC. Research limitations/implications: Majority of the sample was responded by Bumiputera companies. The study suggests focussing the study for non-Bumiputera companies to examine their influence towards HFSC. Furthermore, future studies should explore different sectors of halal, such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, travel and tourism, logistics, finance and e-commerce. Moreover, ensuring the status of halal should be more emphasized in food chains; thus, the source of risk in HFSC should be explored to secure the integrity of halal. Practical implications: The paper includes implications for the halal food industry, whereby the adoption of HFSC will contribute to the business benefits to create a more competitive advantage to the industry. Moreover, the implications of halal practice can create consumers’ trust on the halal product. Originality/value: This paper fulfils an analysed need to study specifically on upstream parties by adopting HFSC.

This paper aims to develop a new recommended human-centric framework for the smart remanufacturing of End-Life-Vehicle (ELV)s stabilizer bars to enhance worker experiences. The human-centered method has been applied in various applications since its introduction. Still, there has been little consideration of worker experience challenges in developing the smart remanufacturing of ELV’s stabilizer bar concept. Data were analyzed using a regression model to evaluate the six hypotheses to generate the human-centric model. According to the research, five aspects of the human-centric model strongly correlate with worker experience: emotional, cognitive, intellectual, confidence and trust. However, only one aspect, behaviour, did not significantly correlate with worker experience. As a result, the conceptual framework excludes the minor aspect of worker experience in human-centric design. Recognizing the importance of smart remanufacturing of ELV’s stabilizer bar, this model is expected to be used as guidance to build a smart remanufacturing of ELV’s stabilizer bar system that specifically responds to human needs.

End-of-life waste disposal is a major issue in Malaysia, where the country’s economy has suffered due to waste recovery issues. Many countries have successfully identified critical materials and products for increasing recycling rates, but not in Malaysia. Thus, the Malaysian government and businesses have had difficulty prioritising products for recycling. The absence of critical materials data has meant that a recovery strategy could not be planned wisely. In addition, the Product Recycling Desirability Model that was utilised by many countries to improve their recycling strategy could not be applied to Malaysia, as it requires critical materials data as input. To start with, Malaysia’s important materials have been identified. Next, two risk dimensions are defined: supply risk and material risk. The indicators are then weighted according to Malaysia’s scenarios. The scores are analyzed and applied to the Product Desirability Model to find desirable products for recycling. As a result, 89 materials were classified as critical to Malaysia’s economy, with palladium, rhodium, gold, platinum, and tellurium ranking first through to fifth. Critical materials scoring was used for the first time in Malaysia to comprehend the Product Recycling Desirability Model, a tool for prioritizing products for recycling. Additional analysis reveals that car batteries, tyres, PET bottles, mobile phones, and DVD-R are the top five most important recyclable products in Malaysia. With the material security database readily available and the novel evaluation system being employed to prioritize critical material supply, using risk supply and material security for Malaysia, the government, or private sector, can strategically start to implement recycling policies and initiatives to strengthen recycling efforts, which help to increase recycling rates.

Supplier development (SD) has been identified as a critical strategy for manufacturing firms in managing and improving the capabilities of suppliers. However, implementing this program necessitates an investment of time, commitment, and finances. The selection of the most beneficial practices to be implemented in order for this program to succeed can ensure a better program output. Therefore, it is crucial for the manufacturing firm to identify which practices should be prioritized and implemented for their SD program. Although SD has been widely researched, the method to evaluate SD practices, particularly in the Malaysian manufacturing industry is virtually non-existent. This paper aims to fill the gap by proposing a method to evaluate the SD practices using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP). Fuzzy AHP is used to rank the practices involved in the program by capturing the evaluation from experts with strong industrial backgrounds in Malaysian Industry. There are five criteria for SD practices: supplier certification (SC), green capability (GC), investment and resource transfer (IRT), feedback and evaluation (FE), and knowledge transfer (KT), with 30 alternatives identified. The findings of the Fuzzy AHP method, suggest that KT is given the most weight. Thus, the alternatives associated with KT must be prioritized to achieve the objectives of the SD program. The results obtained can be referred to by manufacturing practitioners as guidelines for seeking the opportunity to implement an SD program in enhancing the capabilities of suppliers.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs were pilotless aircraft or aircraft with minimum human interaction. UAVs material and structure were critical aspects to consider throughout the development phase. UAVs were utilized in both the military and the civilian sector. However, because of this diversity of uses, their materials and structure differed due to the requirements and resilience needed for those uses. Due to the different materials used in the other development of UAVs, this study aimed to study the appropriate structure material for the development of UAVs. Moreover, this study investigated the process of preparing the body structure of the selected material from developed UAVs particularly for military specifications. Additionally, this study analyzed the best approach that was used to reduce the maximum take-off weight. This study focused on the best structure from the successful product of UAVs from the selected company. This case study was performed to investigate what had been practiced and for further analysis while analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and quality function deployment (QFD) were used as research methods to perform the multi-criteria decision analysis. Carbon fiber was selected as suitable material for wing and propellor while fiberglass composite was identified as suitable material for tail and body of UAVs. This study provided a strong basis for future UAV development, this all-encompassing strategy sought to create an organized framework for decision-making that synchronized technical specifications with operational and customer objectives.