Sustainable production indicator (SPI): a sustainability indicator applied to the production of friction materials

The friction materials industry faces growing demands for sustainability, but lacks specific tools to assess performance across environmental, economic, and social dimensions. This study proposes and validates the Sustainable Production Indicator (SPI), a structured assessment tool designed to evaluate sustainability at the organizational level within this industrial context. The SPI was developed through a literature review to identify relevant parameters and factors and applied through action research in a Brazilian brake pad manufacturing company. Its structure is based on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework and organized into seven operational parameters, each comprising measurable factors and evaluated on a 1-to-5 ordinal scale. The SPI allows the aggregation of factor-level evaluations into parameter scores, which are then averaged to produce scores for each pillar and a final sustainability score. Results demonstrated an overall average above 4, with the social pillar reaching the maximum score of 5, and the environmental and economic pillars averaging 4. These outcomes reflect both strong compliance with regulatory and labor standards and opportunities for operational improvement, particularly in raw material usage. The SPI proved to be a practical and adaptable tool for internal diagnostics, supporting data-driven sustainability management and guiding continuous improvement initiatives. Its participatory design and empirical application reinforce its relevance for companies aiming to operationalize sustainability frameworks. Furthermore, the indicator’s structure enables replication in similar industrial sectors, contributing to both academic advancement and practical implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices.