Contract Fulfilment (Assay Exchange)

The assay exchange is the final stage of contract fulfilment.

Assays are laboratory tests to verify the composition of elements ('analytes') in a product or material. Particularly for concentrates, the value of the material is defined by the composition and prices of the individual elements in the material. The buyer and seller may both send samples of material to laboratories for testing. During an assay exchange, the buyer and seller laboratory results are compared.

The assay exchange is per despatch order. Each despatch order may be split into 'lots', each of which are sampled and assayed separately before the results are combined. However, the final assay exchange is entered and calculated via the Contract Fulfilment node of the sales or purchase contract.

The assay rules, which are configured in the contract terms, specify how the final results are determined. For example, if results are close (within a 'splitting limit'), maybe the buyer and seller results are averaged. Or if the results are outside a splitting limit, another sample may be send to a third agreed laboratory, called the 'umpire'.

For each despatch order, the Assay Rules in the applicable set of contract terms define which analytes are included in the assay exchange. The results associated with the despatch order are retrieved for those analytes. If a certificate is associated with the despatch order, the results are taken from the certificate. If a certificate is not recorded, the results are taken from the samples. If no samples are entered, the results are taken from the loading or unloading transactions (depending on the final assay location specified in the analyte settlement rule).

If the assay rules specify that results may come from multiple laboratories, results must be selected on the Analyte Values Selection tab. The selection must be approved before the results are available on the Assay Exchange and Final Analyte Results tabs. Likewise, if assay exchange factoring is configured, results must be approved before they can be used in the assay exchange.

The analytical results of the buyer and seller are exchanged. The counter-party's results are entered on either the Assay Exchange tab or the Final Analyte Results tab. The assay rules define the process to determine the final result. If the buyer and seller results are greater than specified splitting limits, results may be sought from an umpire.

If a final analyte result has been calculated (within splitting limits, split by agreement between buyer and seller or with umpire results), the Despatch Order snapshot (on the Revenue > Assay Info tab) shows the analyte's value source to be Assay Exchange - Final.