Constructing federated databases in coordinated supply chains

Supply chain partnering is one approach in decreasing the risk of maintaining high inventories and improving due date requirements. Whether or not such partnerships run smoothly depends on the sharing of information, and successful information sharing is determined by the manner in which previously independent databases are coordinated. This study proposes the construction of attribute correspondence matrices (ACMs) for databases by extending the conventional schema coordination from peer-to-peer relationships into vertical relationships, i.e. supply chain relationships. Using ACMs, companies in the supply chain can share data with both upstream and downstream partners without leaking information to competitors. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.