Abstract: This paper evaluates the benefit of a strategy of sharing one type of shipment information,where one stage’s every-period shipping quantity is shared with the immediate downstream members,in a supply chain A quantitative model considering a two-stage linear supply chain has been developed for this purpose,following a simulation approach Our results indicate that in most circumstances this strategy,enabled by information technologies,helps supply chain members adapt and resolve shipment uncertainty well The more uncertainty the shipping quantity,the more benefit the organization can gain from such information In the situation of steady supplement to unfulfilled orders,i e when the backlog is received in time,such benefit is not significant Therefore,if a supplier has a good enough order fulfillment track record,sharing such information may be unnecessary Otherwise,faster collaboration and sharing information of shipping quantity among supply chain members via IT may help improve supply chain performance Another finding in this paper is that such information sharing benefits the information receiver but may not benefit the information sender,i e it elevates the cost-benefit trade-off to the downstream member that receives such information while the upstream,which shares such information,faces a trade-off to implement this strategy These differenes amongst participants may cause barriers during implementation It motivates the participants to negotiate a satisfactory share of the information system construction fee The study provides an approach to quantify the value of shared shipment information and to help supply-chain members evaluate their cost-benefit trade-off during information system construction.

Key words: shipment quantity, information sharing, supply chain