An investigation is reported on the importance of integrating sustainability with manufacturing and design, along with other objectives such as function, competitiveness, profitability and productivity. The need of utilizing appropriate tools like design for environment, life cycle assessment and other environmentally sound practices that are cognizant of the entire life cycle of a process or product is highlighted. It is likely that sustainability and environmental stewardship will be increasingly important considerations in manufacturing and design in the future and are likely to influence the main priorities for advancing manufacturing operations and technologies. Designers and manufacturing decision makers who adopt a sustainability focus and establish a sustainability culture within companies are more likely to be successful in enhancing design and manufacturing. It is concluded that more extensive research and collaboration is needed to improve understanding of sustainability in manufacturing and design, and to enhance technology transfer and applications of sustainability.

The implementation of sustainable systems is an essential requirement in modern manufacturing, in order to minimize the environmental and health concerns, and conserves energy and natural resources. The sustainable manufacturing approach is identified through three main levels, namely: product, process, and system scales. The interactions among these levels provide the required sustainable target. To achieve a sustainable manufacturing system, it is very important to understand and define the concepts and needs related to the sustainability approach. In addition, defining and understanding the implementation steps as well as the assessment method to build a sustainable manufacturing system is required. In this work, a study discussing the sustainable manufacturing approach is presented in terms of concepts, implementation steps, and assessment methods.

Difficult-to-cut materials have been widely employed in many engineering applications, including automotive and aeronautical designs because of their effective properties. However, other characteristics; for example, high hardness and low thermal conductivity has negatively affected the induced surface quality and tool life, and consequently the overall machinability of such materials. Inconel 718, is widely used in many industries including aerospace; however, the high temperature generated during machining is negatively affecting its machinability. Flood cooling is a commonly used remedy to improve machinability problems; however, government regulation has called for further alternatives to reduce the environmental and health impacts of flood cooling. This work aimed to investigate the influence of dispersed multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) gamma nanoparticles, on enhancing the minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) technique cooling and lubrication capabilities during turning of Inconel 718. Machining tests were conducted, the generated surfaces were examined, and the energy consumption data were recorded. The study was conducted under different design variables including cutting speed, percentage of added nano-additives (wt.%), and feed velocity. The study revealed that the nano-fluids usage, generally improved the machining performance when cutting Inconel 718. In addition, it was shown that the nanotubes additives provided better improvements than Al₂O₃ nanoparticles.