Trends in Sustainable Manufacturing: A Systematic Analysis Based on Time and the Triple Bottom Line
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: The sustainable manufacturing literature has experienced remarkable quantitative growth in recent years; however, mapping the thematic and methodological dimensions of this growth remains of considerable importance. To address this gap, the present study examines 79 empirical articles compiled from the Web of Science, Scopus, DergiPark, TrDizin, and Sobiad databases in accordance with the PRISMA protocol, using MAXQDA 24 software and a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. The study traces the 15-year evolution of the literature (2010–2024) through both a time-based perspective and the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework.The findings indicate that academic interest has increased markedly after 2020, while also revealing a striking asymmetry among sustainability dimensions. The analysis shows that economically focused studies outnumber socially focused ones by a factor of 25, and environmentally focused studies outnumber socially focused ones by a factor of 14. Regarding methodological preferences, case study (f=28) and scale/survey (f=27) designs account for approximately 70% of all research. In contrast, the interview method was employed only three times over the entire 15-year period. The study advocates for the adoption of a "human-centered" research perspective that places social sustainability at the core of inquiry, as a means of addressing this structural imbalance in the literature.
Authors: Enis Hiçyılmaz, Hatice Çalıpınar
Institutions: Düzce Üniversitesi, Hacettepe University
Language: Turkish
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7166709999