From workplace standardization to worker well-being: lean manufacturing tools drive social sustainability in Mexican maquiladoras

The growing interest in sustainable industrial practices has encouraged companies to revisit Lean Manufacturing (LM), not only as a way to improve productivity but also as a framework that supports worker well-being and organizational responsibility. Although LM has been widely studied, empirical work that clarifies how its human-oriented components contribute to social sustainability (SOS) in emerging economies remains limited. To contribute to this discussion, the present research explores four LM practices with a strong human dimension—Standardized Work (SW), Multifunctional Teams (MT), Decentralization (DS), and Vertical Information Systems (VIS)—and evaluates their influence on SOS within the Mexican maquiladora sector. We employed a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) using data collected from 240 professionals in automotive, medical, electronic, and textile manufacturing plants. The analysis indicates that MT has the strongest direct influence on DS (β = 0.687, p < 0.001), and it also exhibits the highest total effect on SOS (β = 0.630, p < 0.001). SW shows an indirect contribution to SOS through its effects on MT and DS (β = 0.449, p < 0.001). All hypothesized relationships were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Taken together, the results underscore the relevance of teamwork, distributed decision-making, and structured communication systems as essential contributors to improved social outcomes in labor-intensive manufacturing environments. By incorporating human-centered LM practices into a robust analytical model, this study offers empirical insights that can inform both managerial actions and public policies aimed at strengthening social sustainability in manufacturing industries.