In this study, a literature review (33 papers) on the comparison between the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Lean Manufacturing is conducted. Comparisons between both approaches are rarely addressed in the literature of Production and Management, and there is not an extensive review on this topic. According to the literature review, a classification system is proposed based on four parameters: article source, research method, scope, and comparison results. After the articles' classification using the classification system proposed, an analysis of the topic was performed, which indicated that the number of papers that address a broad comparison between the Theory of Constraints and Lean Manufacturing is predominant, as well as those that claim that a particular approach excels in a specific situation. It is worth noting that there are a number of articles that argue that the approaches and/or their tools are in fact complementary or are aimed at their integration. Finally, the literature review indicated that it is not possible to state that one of the approaches/tools is the best because despite the predominance of articles arguing that the TOC/Drum-Buffer-Rope stands out from the others, there are situations where Lean Manufacturing/Kanban is also prevalent. Therefore, is necessary a proper evaluation of each company and its environment to make it possible to carefully select a single or a hybrid approach in order to achieve the expected return.
Theory of constraints; Lean manufacturing; Review; Comparison
