OPEN ALGORITHM
Our matching algorithm — published.
Most marketplaces treat their matching algorithm as a black box. We publish ours. Anyone reading this page can audit how an RFQ is routed and verify the weights against the source code.
Feature weights (sum = 1.00)
| Feature | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| skills | 0.16 | Buyer's product category × producer's declared skills. |
| performance | 0.14 | Real order history: completion × on-time × dispute-free. |
| certifications | 0.10 | ISO 9001 / AS9100 / IATF 16949 / ISO 13485 coverage. |
| delivery | 0.10 | Lead-time fit: producer avg lead time vs RFQ deadline. |
| trust_tier | 0.10 | NEW / BRONZE / SILVER / GOLD / PLATINUM — computed nightly. |
| materials | 0.08 | Material capability match (6061-T6, 304SS, PEEK, etc.). |
| experience | 0.06 | Years operating, capped at 30. |
| rating | 0.06 | Mean buyer rating, weighted by review count. |
| quality_risk | 0.06 | Penalty for past disputes / returns / low order count. |
| price | 0.05 | Buyer-budget fit (intentionally weak — see below).By design |
| availability | 0.05 | Capacity utilisation: idle slots reward, overload penalty. |
| behavioral | 0.04 | Response rate / response time over trailing 30 days. |
Why price weight is only 5%
A horizontal marketplace that weights price highly drives a race-to-the-bottom that erodes producer margin and quality. We deliberately tilt toward performance, certifications, and trust_tier. Producers benefit from this — they don't have to undercut to win the ranking. Buyers benefit too: a 5% price discount on a part that arrives 3 weeks late, or fails QC, costs more than the price difference.
Source of truth
The numbers above mirror backend/src/app/matching/service.py — SCORE_WEIGHTS. If this page and the code disagree, the code is authoritative; open an issue tagged model-card.
What is not used
- Country of origin is not a scoring feature — only a hard filter when buyer requires it (EU-only sourcing for CBAM).
- No demographic or protected attribute is used in ranking.
- Producers cannot pay to rank higher.