Standard Wool
Data Model Review
March 2026
Standard Wool Digital Platform · Review with Pete · March 2026

How the trading model works

Three focused views based on Pete's feedback on the data model. Covering how products and batches relate, the three trading paths, and how blend cloning works in the new system.

View 1

Product vs batch: identity vs trading

Product defines what something is. The batch/lot is what you actually trade. Traders allocate specific batches to specific customers - the system doesn't pick for you. Products are for reporting and position; lots are for day-to-day trading.

Product Group
Reporting lens
e.g. "BRE Crosses"
Groups products for position views and reporting. "How's my position on crosses?" A lens on the data, not a constraint on trading.
User-defined Many-to-many
e.g. "NZ Merino"
"Show me everything certified RWS." Same product can appear in multiple groups.
User-defined
↓
Products sit in groups (many-to-many)
Product
Identity
e.g. Grade 226, Greasy, Crossbred, Fleece, UK, White
Fixed attributes define what it is. Two products with identical attributes can't exist. This is the canonical identity - the "what" you're trading.
Unique identity Position reporting
↓
Multiple batches within one product (one-to-many)
Inventory Lot
Trading unit
e.g. H19736
Greasy lot, 45 bales. Micron 31.2, VM 1.4%. Received 12 Feb. Cost: £2.85/kg. Customer has sampled and approved this specific batch.
Allocation Invoicing Blending
e.g. H19801
Same product, different batch. Micron 30.8, VM 1.7%. Received 28 Feb. Cost: £2.92/kg. Not yet sampled. Every batch has variation.
Allocation Invoicing Blending
e.g. SS15513
Scoured lot, produced from blend. 20 bales allocated to John Cotton Group. Conditioned weight calculated at invoicing.
Dispatch Margin calc
↓
Each lot contains individual bales
Bale
Physical unit
Individual bales
Gross, tare, nett weights per bale. Warehouse picks which bales go on dispatch (physical stacking order). System generates packing list from bales actually picked.
Warehouse decides
View 2

Three trading paths

Home scour is the core business. Merchanting skips the blend and scour stages. Greasy sale skips them too - selling raw wool directly to another processor or trader. All three paths share the same contract, allocation, and invoicing steps.

Home Scour

Buy greasy, blend, scour, sell scoured
1 Sales contract
Sell-forward: sales contract created before purchasing raw wool.
↓
2 Purchase greasy wool
Buy from British Wool auction, UK farms (grading division), or global suppliers.
↓
3 Receive stock
Into warehouse, or received on paper if in transit.
↓
4 Clone & create blend
Clone previous blend for this customer. Adjust inputs from available greasy stock. Send instruction to Chadwicks.
HSC only
↓
5 Scour at Chadwicks
Chadwicks processes, packs bales, returns packing list and processing invoice.
HSC only
↓
6 Result the blend
Actual weights replace estimates. Greasy stock consumed, new SS lot created with cost.
HSC only
↓
7 Allocate to customer
Trader picks specific batch for this customer. Based on sample approval and batch attributes.
↓
8 Dispatch
Warehouse picks bales (their choice which ones), delivery to customer.
↓
9 Invoice & margin
Invoice generated, packing list from bale data, margin calculated (sale price minus lot cost).

Merchanting

Buy scoured, sell directly
1 Sales contract
Same sell-forward model.
↓
2 Purchase scoured wool
Buy already-scoured product from supplier. No raw material procurement.
Scoured
↓
3 Receive stock
Into warehouse or received on paper.
↓
No blend, no scour, no resulting
Steps 4-6 skipped entirely
↓
7 Allocate to customer
Same batch-level allocation. Trader picks specific lot.
↓
8 Dispatch
Same dispatch process.
↓
9 Invoice & margin
Same invoicing. Margin = sale price minus purchase cost (no processing cost).

Greasy Sale

Buy greasy, sell greasy directly
1 Sales contract
Selling greasy wool to another processor or trader.
Less common
↓
2 Purchase greasy wool
Same purchasing as home scour - auction, farms, or global suppliers.
Greasy
↓
3 Receive stock
Into warehouse or received on paper.
↓
No blend, no scour, no resulting
Steps 4-6 skipped - sold as greasy
↓
7 Allocate to customer
Allocate specific greasy batch. Same batch-level trading.
↓
8 Dispatch
Same dispatch process.
↓
9 Invoice & margin
Margin = sale price minus greasy purchase cost.
View 3

Blend cloning workflow

Traders don't build blends from scratch or follow system suggestions. They find a previous blend - typically the last batch delivered to the same customer - clone it, and adjust based on what greasy stock is available. The system makes finding and cloning easier. The trader stays in control.

Trader
1 Customer calls off stock
Customer needs a delivery of a specific scoured product. Trader needs to create a blend.
2 Search blend history
Filter by product + customer. Find the last blend delivered to this customer. Goal: match as closely as possible to what they received before.
Search by customer Search by product
Platform
3 Show blend history
Display previous blends: input lots and percentages, output quality, customer, date. Trader picks one to clone.
Historical data
4 Clone blend
Copy the selected blend's structure. Same target product, same input proportions as starting point.
Clone
Trader
5 Adjust inputs
Swap input lots based on what's currently in stock. Previous lots may be consumed - substitute with similar greasy batches. Adjust percentages. Trader's judgement call.
6 Confirm & instruct
Review the blend. Set planned weights. Send blend instruction to Chadwicks.
Blend instruction
Chadwicks
7 Process & scour
Call in greasy stock from warehouse. Scour across rounds. Pack output into bales. Return packing list and processing invoice.
Packing list Processing invoice
Trader
8 Result the blend
Enter actual weights from Chadwicks. Greasy stock consumed. New scoured lot (SS number) created. Cost rolled up: materials + processing + conditioning.
New SS lot created
✓ Blend saved to history
This blend becomes the new "last delivered" for this customer + product. Next time, someone clones this one.
Points to confirm with Pete

Open questions

Batch-level trading confirmed

Pete confirmed traders allocate specific batches to specific customers based on sample approvals. The model already supports this through Lot Allocation linking specific lots to specific sales lines. The platform UI should make lot-level views the primary working view for traders, with product-level views for reporting.

Greasy sales confirmed

Pete confirmed greasy products can be sold directly, not just used as blend inputs. Less common than home scour or merchanting, but the system needs to support it. No model changes needed - contracts already support any commodity type on sales or purchase.

Clone-based blending confirmed

Pete confirmed they want to clone previous blends, not have the system suggest or automate. The customer_id on the Blend entity enables "show me what we last blended for this customer." Blend history also supports average percentage reporting for stock management, but creation is always clone-and-modify.

Sample approval tracking

Pete mentions customers approve samples of specific batches. How is this tracked today? If it's in people's heads, the platform could capture it - linking sample approvals to lots and customers. Worth discussing whether this adds value or just adds data entry.

Greasy sale frequency and process

We know greasy sales happen but are "not as often." Are there any differences in the invoicing or documentation for greasy sales vs scoured? Different pricing basis (greasy weight vs clean weight)? Different commission structures?

Blend cloning across divisions

When cloning a blend, can traders see blend history from other divisions, or only their own? If HSC and Tops both blend similar products, can they learn from each other's history?

Prepared by Specs · March 2026 · For review with Pete Handley