Sourcing Criteria Overview

What is a Sourcing Criterion?

A Sourcing Criterion is a function that returns a numeric rating for a Location (or excludes it by returning -1). Criteria are evaluated only after a Strategy passes its Conditions. Typical examples:

• Proximity: `locationDistance`, `locationDistanceBanded`, `locationDistanceExclusion`
• Availability-driven: `inventoryAvailability`, `inventoryAvailabilityBanded`, `inventoryAvailabilityExclusion`
• Business preference: `networkPriority`, `locationTypeExclusion`, `locationNetworkExclusion`
• Operational: `locationDailyCapacity`

Architectural Context

Sourcing Criteria are part of the Responsive Sourcing Framework within the Fluent platform. They sit in several places within the platform, each serving a distinct role:

1. Sourcing Criterion Entity

Sourcing Criterion Entity is represented by the `SourcingCriterion` GraphQL type.

It refers to an individual, concrete instance of a Sourcing Criterion that is configured as part of a Sourcing Strategy.

Structure

2. Sourcing Criteria Schema

The Sourcing Criteria schema is located in the dedicated Setting(s):

• `fc.rubix.order.sourcing.criteria` stores reference (`GLOBAL`) Sourcing Criteria schema
• `fc.rubix.order.sourcing.criteria.custom` can be created for customer-specific (`ACCOUNT` / `RETAILER`) Sourcing Criteria schema

It defines the structure of a Criterion and specifies which parameters it can include. In practice, it acts as the template for a Sourcing Criterion that is added to the Criteria library, making it available for configuration and use by end users.

3. Criterion Utilities

Criterion Utilities are an integral part of the Sourcing Utilities bundle.

They include:

• Reference Criterion Functions
  • Implemented as classes extending `BaseSourcingCriterion`
  • Each class encapsulates the logic for scoring (or excluding) Locations, for example:
    • `LocationDistanceCriterion` – calculates distance between destination and Location
    • `InventoryAvailabilityCriterion` – evaluates available stock coverage
    • `NetworkPriorityCriterion` – prioritizes Locations based on Network membership
  • Criterion classes can override `normalize()` to adjust rating scales (e.g., smaller distance = higher score)
• Annotations and Auto-Generation
  • `@SourcingCriterionInfo` - defines metadata such as `name`, `type`, `tags`, and `label`
  • `@SourcingCriterionParam` - specifies configurable parameters, UI component type, and options
  • These annotations are processed to automatically generate the Sourcing Criteria Schema JSON, which feeds the configuration UI
• Helper Methods (`SourcingCriteriaUtils`)
  • `CriteriaArray` - stacks multiple Criteria for sequential evaluation and tie-breaking
  • `normalize()` - scales ratings across all candidate Locations into a [0..1] range
  • Utility methods (`getFloats`, `getStrings`, `getDistanceUnits`) - parse parameter values from JSON configs
  • `getCriteria(...)` - merges default and Strategy-specific Criteria into a single evaluation stack
• Criterion Registry (`SourcingCriteriaTypeRegistry`)
  • Registers and retrieves Criterion classes by their type identifier
  • Dynamically instantiates Criterion implementations during Strategy evaluation
  • Supports extension with custom Criterion classes through explicit registration

Features

Within the Responsive Sourcing Framework, Sourcing Criteria provide the ability to:

• Prioritize fulfillment Locations by configuring Criteria that score, rank, or exclude candidates
• Leverage the reference library of predefined Sourcing Criteria, with flexible parameters and configuration options
• Develop new Sourcing Criteria using recommended patterns and best practices to extend ranking logic as needed