The value-added chain diagram is mainly used to identify the functions within a company that are directly involved in the creation of a company's value added. These functions can be interlinked as a sequence of functions and thus form a value-added chain. The following figure shows an example of a value-added chain diagram.

In a value-added chain diagram, functions can be arranged in a hierarchy, similar to a function tree. It always represents process-oriented superiority/subordination.

A value-added chain diagram not only enables you to express a superiority or subordination of functions, it can also display the functions' links to organizational units and information objects. When allocating organizational units to functions, as with process chains we differentiate between a function's technical responsibility, its IT responsibility, and the actual execution of a function.

A list of other relationships that are available in a value-added chain diagram is provided in the ARIS Method Reference manual on your installation media.