Timber Certification by System Entity
Gain a deeper understanding of how timber is certified and the role of system entities in the process.
Written by Ian Oldrey
Updated at November 8th, 2023
Table of Contents
When running a trading system you can track purchases and sales by different entities in the business. There is no one right or wrong methods, it will be about selecting the entities that best suit the requirements of the business and the certification scheme being managed.
Certification Schemes
There are two basic types of certification scheme, which require different levels of recording:
Volume Credit
This is where the business purchases material from certified and non-certified sources. As long as the certified material exceeds the target percentage, then that amount can be sold as certified material.
Full Traceability
This is where material sold as certified needs to be traceable back to the specific source (purchase), and that the source is certified.
Certification Tracking Entities
| Entity | Good for | Overview | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer | Volume Credit | This is where any sales to a customer are counted as Certified timber sales | Simple to record and won’t take volume of certified timber for customers who don’t need/want it | No ability to sell some orders to a customer of certified timber and exclude others |
| Supplier | Volume Credit | This is where any purchases from a supplier are counted as Certified timber purchases | Simple to record | No ability to purchase some certified stock and some non-certified |
| Product | Volume Credit | This is where all purchases and sales of a product count as certified |
Easy to record and will give 100% accuracy on volume purchased vs. volume sold. Good if a product is only certified supply. |
Cannot easily see total stock of a product. The user will need to add up the certified product and non-certified product |
| Lot (Sub Stock) | Volume Credit/Full Traceability | This is where there is a separate Lot of material for each certification scheme and non-certified timber | Can see the total stock of a product for certified and non-certified stock. Can select to dispatch to customers from different Lots according to demand for certified material. | More operations recording, entering Lot for receipt and dispatch of goods. |
| Shipment | Full Traceability | This is where the certified shipment is held in a Lot, with shipment details. When an order is dispatched the traceable Lot is selected | Gives an accurate traceability of the source of the material | More operations recording, entering Lot for receipt and dispatch of goods. |
| Pack | Full Traceability | This is where Timber Packs are marked as certified at the point of receipt/creation | Full traceability on each pack at the point of picking/dispatch | Certification can be lost when the pack is broken to loose stock |
| Order Header | Volume Credit | A field is selected in the Order Header to say if all the material on the order is certified or not | Gives flexibility to specify on an order by order basis and simple to report. | Extra effort for the sales team to correctly enter the certification requirement on every order |
| Order Line | Volume Credit | A field is selected in each Order Line to say if that line is certified or not | Gives flexibility to specify on a line by line basis and simple to report. | Extra effort for the sales team to correctly enter the certification requirement on every order line |