Sourcing Rule

The core of a sourcing rule is an ordered list of supply locations. The ATP engine evaluates sources in strict sequence:

• Primary Source: The preferred warehouse or plant, typically the closest or lowest-cost option.
• Secondary Source: Activated only when the primary source cannot fully satisfy the order.
• Tertiary Sources: Additional fallback locations evaluated sequentially until demand is met. This ranking ensures fulfillment aligns with business priorities like cost minimization, service level agreements, or inventory balancing.

Sourcing rules are assigned to specific ship-to regions or customer zones, creating a geographic fulfillment map:

• A rule for West Coast customers might prioritize a California distribution center.
• A rule for European Union orders might restrict sourcing to EU-based warehouses for customs compliance.
• Postal code ranges or country codes define the rule's scope. This regional binding ensures that the ATP check respects both logistical efficiency and regulatory constraints.

Sourcing rules are linked to specific products or product categories, enabling differentiated strategies:

• High-velocity SKUs may source from multiple regional hubs for redundancy.
• Slow-moving or specialized items may source from a single central warehouse.
• Hazardous materials may be restricted to certified facilities only. This granularity allows supply chain architects to optimize fulfillment based on product characteristics, demand patterns, and handling requirements.

Sourcing rules can be configured with valid-from and valid-to dates to support seasonal or transitional strategies:

• A pre-launch rule sources from a single plant during product ramp-up.
• A peak season rule activates overflow warehouses during holiday demand spikes.
• A phase-out rule redirects sourcing as a distribution center is decommissioned. Date-bound rules enable hands-free transitions without manual intervention in the ATP engine.

When a single source cannot fulfill the full quantity, the sourcing rule governs order splitting behavior:

• No Split: The entire order must be fulfilled from one source; otherwise, it backorders.
• Partial Split Allowed: The ATP engine splits the order across multiple sources in ranked sequence.
• Split Threshold: A minimum quantity per split shipment to avoid uneconomical partial deliveries. This logic balances fulfillment speed against shipping cost and customer experience.

Sourcing rules interact with allocation management to reserve inventory for specific channels or customers:

• A rule may skip a source if its allocated inventory for the customer's channel is exhausted.
• Committed ATP checks respect allocation boundaries defined at the source-product level.
• This prevents a high-priority channel from consuming inventory reserved for another. The combination of sourcing rules and allocations creates a multi-layered fulfillment governance framework.