Company values and calculations in automations

Some automations record a number that depends on the lot: tonnes of CO₂e linked to a lot of green coffee, for example. Instead of writing the factor into every automation, your company sets it once as a company value, and the automation's calculation names it. When the factor changes, every automation that uses it follows from the date you choose.

What a company value is

A company value is a number with a name and a unit, such as "Emission factor, green coffee: 0.12 t/t" (tonnes per tonne). It applies to Every product, or to One product: a product's own value wins for its lots.

• Owners and admins add and change values in Settings › Automations › Company values with Add a value, and confirm with their authenticator code. Other members can read them.
• The Short name is how calculations name the value. It cannot change later, and one short name always keeps the same unit.
• Change the number creates a new version, in force from now or from a later date (In force from). Until that date the current number stays. History lists every version, who set it and why, and Used by these automations.
• Archive stops offering a value. A live automation that still needs it keeps it from being archived.

How a calculation works

In Record with an add-on, a value can come from A calculation:

1. Take a number of the trigger, usually the lot quantity, and Read in a unit such as tonnes or kilograms. A factor is per this unit.
2. Then multiply, divide, add or subtract By a number or a company value.
3. Round to the precision the add-on keeps, for example 0.001 t CO₂e.

The form works the example out as you type: "1,200 kg → 1.2 t × 0.12 = 0.144 t CO₂e". A lot counted in bags or another unit is converted first; units that do not convert are refused before you publish. If the result would be less than the add-on records, the form says that a lot that small would fail.

When the automation runs

The run reads the version of the company value in force for the trigger's product when it started, converts the lot's quantity from its own unit, and keeps the working on the step. The run and the approval both show How the values were computed, so the approver sees the formula with the real numbers before anything is recorded. If no number is in force yet, the step fails and says so.

A company value is your company's own figure. A-REX does not check where it comes from: write its source under Why (optional) so it shows in the history. See Declared footprints for footprints declared by a supplier.