Monitoring quality in supply chains: a rule-based approach

Author(s)

Mauricio Augusto Figueiredo

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Computação
• Defense date: 2009-05-29

Examining board members

Claudia Maria Bauzer Medeiros; André Santanchè; Edmundo Roberto Mauro Madeira

• Advisor: Claudia Maria Bauzer Medeiros

Abstract

Supply chains have become increasingly dependent on information systems. Besides posing scientific challenges, there are many correlated economical issues. This thesis deals with mechanisms to manage rules that specify the quality of products in supply chains, under two aspects: (i) the specification and storage of those rules and (ii) the analysis of the events in this environment, under quality restrictions. This research adopts a traceability mo deI for agricultural supply chains developed at UNICAMP. The quality rules considered define conditions that products must meet so that they can be consumed. Rule checking is based on analysis of variables considered critical for quality assessment, which are monitored by sensors. Hence, this research combines work in sensor data management, active databases and integrity constrains. The main contributions are: a detailed study on traceability associated to quality rules; a mo deI to manage the specification, application and analysis of those rules; the specification and implementation of algorithms that transform the rules into executable . database triggers; and a prototype to validate the architecture, based on Web Services and event dissemination. Case studies are based on agricultural challenges (AU)