The integration of environmental sustainability principles into industrial maintenance—commonly termed Green Maintenance—represents an emerging frontier in operations management. While theoretical arguments for green maintenance are well-established, empirical evidence on how green maintenance practices interact with composite equipment performance outcomes remains limited, particularly in the context of developing economies. This paper presents a quantitative trade-off analysis based on primary data collected from 96 manufacturing plants across four sectors in India. A Green Maintenance Practice (GMP) score was constructed from five dimensions: eco-friendly lubricant adoption, energy-efficient maintenance scheduling, waste reduction in maintenance operations, green spare parts procurement, and maintenance worker environmental training. Composite Equipment Performance (CEP) was operationalized using a weighted combination of OEE, equipment reliability, and energy efficiency per production unit. Hierarchical regression analysis, supplemented by quadrant-based trade-off mapping, reveals a significant but non-linear relationship between GMP scores and CEP. Plants in the high-GMP/high-CEP quadrant (28.1% of the sample) demonstrate that environmental and performance excellence are simultaneously achievable, with these plants also exhibiting 14.3% lower maintenance costs and 22.7% lower energy consumption compared to the sector average. However, a transition cost effect is identified, where plants in the medium-GMP band (GMP = 40–60) show temporarily depressed CEP scores (mean CEP = 58.4 vs. 64.2 for low-GMP plants), suggesting a U-shaped performance trajectory during green transition. These findings carry important implications for maintenance policy, sustainable operations strategy, and manufacturing competitiveness.
Green Maintenance, Equipment Performance, Trade-off Analysis, Sustainability, Manufacturing, OEE, Environmental Maintenance
Mohar Kumar, Dr. Nikhl Rathor. Green Maintenance Practices and Composite Equipment Performance: A Trade-off Analysis in Indian Manufacturing. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(SP1):259-265
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