Predictika · Dairy ingredients

An AI sales agent's dairy ingredient order, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares an order for a Fonterra dairy ingredient (a milk powder, Cheddar for processing or anhydrous milkfat) for a destination market, with the analysis values the buyer needs. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of Fonterra's published GDT product bulletins and import eligibility statements and returns a verdict, every reason and the figures it looked up.

Scope: Nine Fonterra GDT-specification products (wholemilk, skimmilk and buttermilk powders, young and frozen Cheddar for processing, premium AMF): analysis values stated on the order against the bulletin limits, and destination market eligibility. See everything this validator covers

This validator models orders for the nine Fonterra New Zealand GDT-specification products in the bulletins it was built from, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Products — Wholemilk Powder Regular and Instant Fortified; Skimmilk Powder Low Heat, Medium Heat and for UHT Milk; Buttermilk Powder for UHT Milk; Cheddar Cheese Young and GDT Frozen for processing; and Anhydrous Milkfat Premium Grade (210 kg drum). Pack sizes are the net weights printed in each bulletin.
  • Specification limits — protein, moisture, fat, salt, pH, whey protein nitrogen index and milkfat stated on the order must sit inside the Min and Max limits the bulletin gives for that product; a value for which the bulletin gives no limit is blocked.
  • Destination market — a market not on the product's import eligibility list needs a Fonterra representative before contracting, and a market marked ** needs the importer to confirm its registration with its government agencies.

Any order for these products that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: prices (the bulletins have none, so this validator produces no price build-up or line-item quote), microbiological, sensory and physical limits, nutrition and vitamin values, other Fonterra and NZMP products and grades, packaging variants, contract terms and shipping. Assumptions: the import eligibility lists are those printed in the bulletins and are shown with their printed dates in the sources; the bulletins state that Fonterra does not oblige itself to ship to unlisted markets, and this validator therefore sends those orders for a person to confirm rather than blocking them; St Vincent is treated as one market.

The AI sales agentBuilds the ingredient order from the conversation and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      
Waiting for the call.

Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong

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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
Specification limits per productOnly with workarounds
Every product has its own Min and Max for protein, moisture, fat and more, and some limits have only one end; a rules-based CPQ needs a table of option rules per product that someone keeps in step with each bulletin version.
The product and the stated values travel in one request and every value is compared with the bulletin limit looked up for that product.
Which markets each product may ship toOnly with workarounds
Each product has its own list of 9 to 62 markets, some marked for importer registration; in a rules-based CPQ that is a long compatibility table per product.
The product and destination are checked together against the product's printed list on every call.
Closely related products with different limitsOnly with care
Low heat, medium heat and UHT skimmilk powder differ only in their whey protein nitrogen index limit and market list, so a wrong pick is easy to miss.
The limits belong to the product, so the same value passes for one product and is flagged for the next.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as the order is saved or a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.
All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

What this validator catches: findings from its test cases

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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

1The order states a protein of 28.5 percent, above the 27.6 percent maximum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
2The order states a protein of 23.5 percent, below the 24.0 percent minimum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
3The order states a moisture of 3.8 percent, above the 3.5 percent maximum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
4The order states a fat of 29.0 percent, above the 28.0 percent maximum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
5The order states a protein of 23.0 percent, below the 23.3 percent minimum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Instant Fortified.
6The order states a salt that is not in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular: the bulletin gives no salt limit for this product.
7The order states a whey protein nitrogen index that is not in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular: the bulletin gives no whey protein nitrogen index limit for this product.
8The order states a whey protein nitrogen index of 6.5 mg/g, above the 6.0 mg/g maximum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder Regular Low Heat.
9The order states a whey protein nitrogen index of 6.0 mg/g, above the 5.99 mg/g maximum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder Regular Medium Heat.
10The order states a whey protein nitrogen index of 1.0 mg/g, below the 1.51 mg/g minimum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder Regular Medium Heat.
11The order states a whey protein nitrogen index of 5.0 mg/g, above the 4.5 mg/g maximum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder for UHT Milk.
12The order states a fat of 1.5 percent, above the 1.25 percent maximum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder for UHT Milk.
13The order states a fat of 14.0 percent, above the 13.0 percent maximum in the specification for Buttermilk Powder Regular for UHT Milk.
14The order states a salt of 2.5 percent, above the 2.25 percent maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese Young for processing.
15The order states a salt of 1.5 percent, below the 1.75 percent minimum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing.
16The order states a moisture of 40.0 percent, above the 39.0 percent maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese Young for processing.
17The order states a pH at 72 hours of 5.8, above the 5.6 maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese Young for processing.
18The order states a protein that is not in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing: the bulletin gives no protein limit for this product.
19The order states a milkfat of 99.5 percent, below the 99.8 percent minimum in the specification for Anhydrous Milkfat Premium Grade 210 kg.
20The order states a moisture of 0.2 percent, above the 0.1 percent maximum in the specification for Anhydrous Milkfat Premium Grade 210 kg.
21The order states a protein that is not in the specification for Anhydrous Milkfat Premium Grade 210 kg: the bulletin gives no protein limit for this product.
22Japan is not among the markets Fonterra lists for Wholemilk Powder Regular. Fonterra ships only to listed markets unless agreed in advance with the customer, so a Fonterra representative must be contacted before contracting.
23Thailand is marked ** for Wholemilk Powder Regular, so before contracting the importer or agent must confirm that it meets the registration requirements of its importing government agencies.
24Thailand is not among the markets Fonterra lists for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing. Fonterra ships only to listed markets unless agreed in advance with the customer, so a Fonterra representative must be contacted before contracting.
25Brazil is not among the markets Fonterra lists for Wholemilk Powder Regular. Fonterra ships only to listed markets unless agreed in advance with the customer, so a Fonterra representative must be contacted before contracting.
26Japan is not among the markets Fonterra lists for Skimmilk Powder Regular Low Heat. Fonterra ships only to listed markets unless agreed in advance with the customer, so a Fonterra representative must be contacted before contracting.
27The order states a whey protein nitrogen index of 7.0 mg/g, above the 6.0 mg/g maximum in the specification for Skimmilk Powder Regular Low Heat.
28The order states a moisture of 4.0 percent, above the 3.5 percent maximum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
29Peru is marked ** for Wholemilk Powder Regular, so before contracting the importer or agent must confirm that it meets the registration requirements of its importing government agencies.
30The order states a moisture of 45.0 percent, above the 39.0 percent maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing.
31The order states a fat of 40.0 percent, above the 38.0 percent maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing.
32The order states a salt of 3.0 percent, above the 2.5 percent maximum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing.
33The order states a pH at 72 hours of 4.9, below the 5.05 minimum in the specification for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing.
34Brazil is not among the markets Fonterra lists for Cheddar Cheese GDT Frozen for processing. Fonterra ships only to listed markets unless agreed in advance with the customer, so a Fonterra representative must be contacted before contracting.

Narration transcript

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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares an order for a Fonterra dairy ingredient (a milk powder, Cheddar for processing or anhydrous milkfat) for a destination market. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of Fonterra's published GDT product bulletins and import eligibility statements and returns a verdict, every reason and the figures it looked up.
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
  3. The agent says. Please quote 80 bags of 25 kg of Wholemilk Powder Regular for delivery to Saudi Arabia. The protein of this lot is 28.5 percent. The rest of the request is on screen.
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
  5. Blocked, with one finding, all in one answer. The order states a protein of 28.5 percent, above the 27.6 percent maximum in the specification for Wholemilk Powder Regular.
  6. The validator returned one blocking finding in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other.
  7. What this shows: for specification limits per product, a rules-based CPQ can do this only with workarounds.
  8. Now the agent resubmits.
  9. The corrected request. It changes the stated protein to 27 percent.
  10. It calls the validator again.
  11. This time the validator clears it.
  12. The earlier finding is cleared.
  13. One problem caught in one call, fixed in one pass, and a clean quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.