Seven gates between a stored value and a READY record.
SOURCE does not treat a number, a PDF, or a supplier logo as proof. Identity, evidence, scope, validity, permission, and conflicts are reviewed separately. Unresolved outcomes stay unresolved.
READY only when every applicable gate passes.
Gates can be not applicable for a given claim. They are never silently skipped when they apply. SOURCE records the outcome; it does not independently certify evidence.
Gate 1
Identity
The product, component or supplier the value is about must be reconciled. Ambiguous matches stay in review.
Gate 2
Value
A stated property exists on the record. SOURCE does not fill empty fields with inference presented as fact.
Gate 3
Evidence
A document or source record is attached. A declaration without evidence does not pass this gate.
Gate 4
Scope
The evidence covers the product, period and purpose being asked. Adjacent but non-matching documents remain unused.
Gate 5
Validity
The evidence is still inside its stated validity window, or the gap remains open.
Gate 6
Permission
Recorded consent allows the intended reuse. Denied or missing permission keeps the record unresolved for that use.
Gate 7
Conflict
Outstanding conflicts have been reviewed. Unreviewed disagreement blocks READY.
Input, resolution, output — without becoming the catalogue.
SOURCE consumes product identity and claim values from existing systems, resolves evidence against those claims, and returns readiness plus unresolved reasons. Master data stays where it already lives.
Input
Product identities, claim values, and existing files imported from ERP, PIM, PLM, or spreadsheets. SOURCE does not become another master-data system.
Resolution
Gap identification, reuse when identity, scope, validity, and permission allow, and prepared requests to a responsible supplier or internal owner. Uncertain identities remain visible.
Output
READY or UNRESOLVED records with reasons, plus export of the evidence trail for review in downstream systems. SOURCE does not publish passports from this output.
Values, evidence, permission, and unresolved outcomes are different objects.
A recycled-content percentage is a value. A mill certificate is evidence. A recorded licence to reuse that certificate is permission. A declined supplier request is an unresolved outcome — not missing data to be filled in by assumption.
| Object | What it is | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Value | A claim figure stored on the product record. | Proof that the figure is evidenced. |
| Evidence | A file, statement, or reference attached to that value. | Permission to reuse it on another SKU or channel. |
| Permission | Recorded reuse rights for a named identity and scope. | Implied by possession of the file. |
| Unresolved | Decline, uncertainty, denial, conflict, or no response. | A temporary empty field waiting to be guessed. |