IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transe/v206y2026ics1366554525005939.html

From vision to impact: Can zero-defect manufacturing balance worker well-being, environmental sustainability, and fulfillment resilience?

Author

Listed:
  • Niu, Baozhuang
  • Deng, Xinhai
  • Xie, Fengfeng
  • Dong, Jian

Abstract

The manufacturing sector is grappling with significant challenges, including concerns about worker well-being, sustainability, and the resilience of production systems. These core concerns drive the shift toward advanced manufacturing paradigm, where a suite of advanced technologies has been deployed to prioritize human-centric, sustainable, and resilient production practices. This paper develops a stylized competition model to investigate whether an inferior manufacturer suffering from unstable yield will strategically adopt relevant technologies to achieve zero-defect manufacturing. While zero-defect manufacturing intuitively promises better resilience, we find that its desirability becomes conditional if all three goals are taken into account. We introduce three performance indexes: worker well-being, environmental sustainability, and fulfillment resilience. One result worth noting is that zero-defect manufacturing does not always improve workers’ well-being, as it might increase workloads without proportional wage compensation. Regarding environmental sustainability, an interesting “green dilemma” is identified when the focal manufacturer has either a low or a high qualified yield level. Nevertheless, our analysis identifies feasible conditions under which the adoption of zero-defect manufacturing enables a multi-win situation for profitability, worker well-being, environmental sustainability, and fulfillment resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Niu, Baozhuang & Deng, Xinhai & Xie, Fengfeng & Dong, Jian, 2026. "From vision to impact: Can zero-defect manufacturing balance worker well-being, environmental sustainability, and fulfillment resilience?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:206:y:2026:i:c:s1366554525005939
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2025.104565
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554525005939
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tre.2025.104565?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yang, Xingquan & Li, Feng & Liu, Ying, 2024. "Industry and regional peer effects on company innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    2. ., 2022. "Income Effects and the ETI," Chapters, in: The Elasticity of Taxable Income, chapter 9, pages 199-220, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Oecd, 2022. "Enhancing online disclosure effectiveness," OECD Digital Economy Papers 335, OECD Publishing.
    4. Oecd, 2024. "Pro-competitive industrial policy," OECD Roundtables on Competition Policy Papers 309, OECD Publishing.
    5. Niu, Baozhuang & Dong, Jian & Wang, Hongzhi, 2024. "Smart port vs. port integration to mitigate congestion: ESG performance and data validation," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    6. Oecd, 2024. "Competition and regulation in the care industry," OECD Roundtables on Competition Policy Papers 315, OECD Publishing.
    7. Bin Shen & Yifan Cao & Xiaoyan Xu, 2020. "Product line design and quality differentiation for green and non-green products in a supply chain," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 148-164, January.
    8. Economic Outlook and Statistical Analysis Division, 2024. "Korean Industrial Outlook for the Second Half of 2024," Industrial Economic Review 24-12, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
    9. Hong, Zhaofu & Guo, Xiaolong, 2019. "Green product supply chain contracts considering environmental responsibilities," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 155-166.
    10. Tinglong Dai & Christopher Tang, 2022. "Frontiers in Service Science: Integrating ESG Measures and Supply Chain Management: Research Opportunities in the Postpandemic Era," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, March.
    11. Xin Fang & Soo-Haeng Cho, 2020. "Cooperative Approaches to Managing Social Responsibility in a Market with Externalities," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1215-1233, November.
    12. Hong, Zhaofu & Wang, Hao & Yu, Yugang, 2018. "Green product pricing with non-green product reference," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-15.
    13. Zhou Li & Gengming Xie & Varsha Arya & Kwok Tai Chui, 2024. "Semantic Trajectory Planning for Industrial Robotics," International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS), IGI Global Scientific Publishing, vol. 20(1), pages 1-10, January.
    14. ., 2024. "Psychopathology of mental disorders," Chapters, in: The Atlas of Social Complexity, chapter 14, pages 165-183, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. ., 2024. "Development paths of industrial clusters," Chapters, in: Transforming Poor Economies, chapter 3, pages 34-52, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Gabriel R. G. Benito & Klaus E. Meyer, 2024. "Industrial policy, green challenges, and international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(9), pages 1093-1107, December.
    17. Song Huang & Xu Guan & Ying†Ju Chen, 2018. "Retailer Information Sharing with Supplier Encroachment," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(6), pages 1133-1147, June.
    18. Niu, Baozhuang & Deng, Xinhai & Xie, Fengfeng & Shen, Zifan, 2025. "Dual sourcing hurts supply chain viability? The value of brand-owners’ cooperation under single sourcing," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    19. Qingying Li & Xiaotong Guan & Tianqin Shi & Wen Jiao, 2020. "Green product design with competition and fairness concerns in the circular economy era," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 165-179, January.
    20. Hau-Ling Chan & Bin Shen & Yajun Cai, 2018. "Quick response strategy with cleaner technology in a supply chain: coordination and win-win situation analysis," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 3397-3408, May.
    21. ., 2024. "Service marketing environment for the sports industry," Chapters, in: Services in Sport Management, chapter 2, pages 22-44, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. FU,Xue & FU,Yongwei & TU,Min & ZENG,Xia & ZHANG,Hongji, . "Effects of Soil Biodiversity on Plant Growth: A Review," Asian Agricultural Research, USA-China Science and Culture Media Corporation, vol. 14(09).
    23. Terry A. Taylor & Wenqiang Xiao, 2019. "Donor Product‐Subsidies to Increase Consumption: Implications of Consumer Awareness and Profit‐Maximizing Intermediaries," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(7), pages 1757-1772, July.
    24. Ling Li, 2024. "Industry 4.0 and Beyond," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 1581-1583, October.
    25. Douglas W.S. Renwick, 2024. "Work, Politics and the Green Industrial Revolution," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-031-53067-8, January.
    26. Xiaohuan Lan, 2024. "The Role of Government in Industrialization," Springer Books, in: How China Works, chapter 0, pages 123-174, Springer.
    27. Bouaziz, Nourddine & Bettayeb, Belgacem & Sahnoun, M’hammed & Yassine, Adnan, 2024. "Incorporating uncertain human behavior in production scheduling for enhanced productivity in Industry 5.0 context," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    28. Hsuan-Yu & Pan, 2024. "Aluminum Circular Economy in the Bicycle Industry," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21.
    29. Mario Passalacqua & Robert Pellerin & Florian Magnani & Philippe Doyon-Poulin & Laurène Del-Aguila & Jared Boasen & Pierre-Majorique Léger, 2024. "Human-centred AI in industry 5.0: a systematic review," Post-Print hal-04723054, HAL.
    30. Dong, Ciwei & Liu, Qingyu & Shen, Bin, 2019. "To be or not to be green? Strategic investment for green product development in a supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 193-227.
    31. Jane Du, 2024. "Food Sector in Chinese Industrialisation Under Mao," Palgrave Studies in Economic History, in: Farmland, Farming and Food in the National Economy of China, 1947 – 2020, chapter 0, pages 1-31, Palgrave Macmillan.
    32. Abedullah & Muhammad Faisal Ali, 2024. "Evaluation of Seed Industry: Way Forward," PIDE Monograph Series 2024:1, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    33. Andrew Hodge & Mr. Roberto Piazza & Fuad Hasanov & Xun Li & Maryam Vaziri & Mr. Atticus Weller & Yu Ching Wong, 2024. "Industrial Policy in Europe: A Single Market Perspective," IMF Working Papers 2024/249, International Monetary Fund.
    34. ., 2024. "Rapid development of industrial clusters in Asia," Chapters, in: Transforming Poor Economies, chapter 7, pages 114-135, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    35. ., 2024. "Foreign direct investment and industrial development," Chapters, in: Transforming Poor Economies, chapter 9, pages 159-176, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    36. Nirvikar Singh & Xavier Vives, 1984. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 546-554, Winter.
    37. ., 2024. "Buoyant development of industrial clusters in Africa," Chapters, in: Transforming Poor Economies, chapter 8, pages 136-158, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    38. Candace Arai Yano & Hau L. Lee, 1995. "Lot Sizing with Random Yields: A Review," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 311-334, April.
    39. Lai, Xinfeng & Chen, Zhixiang & Wang, Xin & Chiu, Chun-Hung, 2023. "Risk propagation and mitigation mechanisms of disruption and trade risks for a global production network," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    40. Dong, Ciwei & Huang, Qianzhi & Pan, Yuqing & Ng, Chi To & Liu, Renjun, 2023. "Logistics outsourcing: Effects of greenwashing and blockchain technology," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    41. Wu, Qianni & Chiu, Chun-Hung, 2023. "The impacts of carbon insurance on supply chain and environment considering technology risk under cap-and-trade mechanism," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    42. Dmitry Ivanov, 2023. "The Industry 5.0 framework: viability-based integration of the resilience, sustainability, and human-centricity perspectives," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(5), pages 1683-1695, March.
    43. Xiaoyang Li, 2024. "Industry Shakeouts after an Innovation Breakthrough," Working Papers 24-70, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    44. Lee Branstetter & Guangwei Li, 2024. "The Challenges of Chinese Industrial Policy," Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 77-113.
    45. Steven Callander & Hongyi Li, 2024. "Regulating an Innovative Industry," Discussion Papers 2024-07, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    46. Shujuan Li & Min Xi & Dongmei Li, 2024. "Research on the Impact of Sci-Tech Finance on Industrial TFP," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(3), pages 180-192, May.
    47. ., 2024. "Lessons from the consumer electronics industry," Chapters, in: Concise Introduction to Global Supply Chain Management, chapter 5, pages 65-91, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    48. Baozhuang Niu & Jiawei Li & Jie Zhang & Hsing Kenneth Cheng & Yinliang (Ricky) Tan, 2019. "Strategic Analysis of Dual Sourcing and Dual Channel with an Unreliable Alternative Supplier," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(3), pages 570-587, March.
    49. Li, Dun & Gao, Jianmin & Zhao, Ziqi & Du, Qian & Dong, Heming & Cui, Zhaoyang, 2022. "Effects of iron on coal pyrolysis-derived soot formation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    50. Soo-Haeng Cho & Xin Fang & Sridhar Tayur & Ying Xu, 2019. "Combating Child Labor: Incentives and Information Disclosure in Global Supply Chains," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 692-711, July.
    51. Bin Shen & Ming Cheng & Ciwei Dong & Yixuan Xiao, 2023. "Battling counterfeit masks during the COVID-19 outbreak: quality inspection vs. blockchain adoption," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(11), pages 3634-3650, June.
    52. Shen, Bin & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Chan, Hau-Ling, 2019. "Selling green first or not? A Bayesian analysis with service levels and environmental impact considerations in the Big Data Era," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 412-420.
    53. Ma, Yong & Lv, Lin, 2022. "Money, debt, and the effects of fiscal stimulus," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 152-178.
    54. Tianjiao Li & Changchun Feng & Hao Xi & Yongpei Guo, 2022. "Peer Effects in Housing Size in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shi, Xiutian & Chan, Hau-Ling & Dong, Ciwei, 2020. "Impacts of competition between buying firms on corporate social responsibility efforts: Does competition do more harm than good?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Wang, Min & Huang, Hongfu & Liu, Feng, 2023. "To adapt or to standardize? Cross-market green product design under parallel importation impact," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Niu Yu & Mengni Xiong & Pin Zhou & Qingguo Bai, 2025. "Contract design for a retailer-dominated supply chain under asymmetric green investment cost information," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 1-31, March.
    4. Yanting Li & Cuihua Zhang & Chunyu Li & Yong Ma, 2024. "Online channel configuration strategy considering contract manufacturer encroachment and green investment," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 2065-2112, September.
    5. Chongfeng Lan & Zhongzhen Miao & Huanyong Ji, 2021. "Strategic Analysis of Dual-Channel Green Supply Chain with an Unreliable and Competitive Supplier," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    6. Riccarda Rosenball, 2025. "The Gender Pay Gap in German Manufacturing: How Exporters Drive Wage Equality Trends," Graz Economics Papers 2025-08, University of Graz, Department of Economics.
    7. Mukherjee, Arka & Carvalho, Margarida, 2021. "Dynamic decision making in a mixed market under cooperation: Towards sustainability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    8. Zhu, Shichao & Xia, Yusen & Yu, Lean & Li, Jian, 2025. "Leveraging blockchain technology to prevent deceptive disclosure of ESG compliance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    9. Hanli Hu & Yu Cao & Dan Yi & Qingsong Li, 2023. "How to Distribute Green Products in Competition with Brown Products? Direct Selling versus Agent Selling?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-22, July.
    10. Liu, Qingyu & Shen, Bin & Wen, Xin, 2023. "Role of climate-smart agriculture in fighting against climate change in competitive supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    11. Niu, Baozhuang & Deng, Xinhai & Wang, Hongzhi, 2024. "Manufacturers' power strategy confronting marine energy instability and consumers' environmental concern: Incentive and data-driven policy analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    12. Niu, Baozhuang & Ruan, Yiyuan & Yu, Xinhu, 2024. "Purchasing new for remanufacturing: Sourcing co-opetition, tax-planning and data validation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    13. Niu, Baozhuang & Ruan, Yiyuan & Zeng, Fanzhuo, 2022. "Promoting remanufacturing through subsidy and environment tax: Channel co-opetition, incentive alignment and regulation optimization," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Xia, Jing & Li, Yuxin & Niu, Wenju & Xue, Weili & Zhang, Lianmin, 2025. "Navigating the subsidy path to decarbonization under uncertainties," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    15. Liangjie Xia & Yongwan Bai & Sanjoy Ghose & Juanjuan Qin, 2022. "Differential game analysis of carbon emissions reduction and promotion in a sustainable supply chain considering social preferences," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 310(1), pages 257-292, March.
    16. Xiang Gao & Xiaolan Qiu & Beibei Shang, 2026. "Strategic Insights From Voluntary and Mandatory ESG Evaluations in a Competitive Market," Evaluation Review, , vol. 50(1), pages 116-148, February.
    17. Niu, Baozhuang & Ruan, Yiyuan & Xu, Haotao, 2024. "Less is more? Channel separation to mitigate triple competition and combat copycats in agency e-commerce," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 315(1), pages 242-270.
    18. Zhang, Ranran & Ma, Weimin & Si, Hongyun & Liu, Jinjin & Liao, Le, 2021. "Cooperative game analysis of coordination mechanisms under fairness concerns of a green retailer," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Hsieh, Chung-Chi & Wu, Ching-Yu & Lathifah, Artya, 2025. "Cross-channel influence of blockchain technology on green supply chains under asymmetric retail platform competition," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    20. Ren, Da & Guo, Rui & Lan, Yanfei & Shang, Changjing, 2021. "Shareholding strategies for selling green products on online platforms in a two-echelon supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:206:y:2026:i:c:s1366554525005939. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.