How network design consultants can use shipment history as a signal for a SourceX introduction

How does a network design study point to a licensing candidate?

A network design study forces a client to assemble years of order, shipment and carrier history, so you learn which distributors and manufacturers keep complete records. That makes you a natural source of introductions to SourceX, but only for the client's own records, raised with the owner after the study, and never using your extracts.

The study itself is the screen. Companies that can hand you three years of clean order lines, ship-to locations, carrier invoices and inventory snapshots have the discipline AI buyers look for. Companies that cannot are not ready, whatever their size.

This page is about your role as an introducer. It does not describe any dataset, and it does not suggest your modeling files, cleaned extracts or benchmark databases are part of any license.

Which study clients are worth a conversation?

Distribution and light-manufacturing clients often keep this kind of record. The guide on contract manufacturer acquisitions shows how a customer's designs differ from the manufacturer's own records, a split that also matters for distributors who hold customer-specific data.

The extract line: what stays out

Your client engagement had a data transfer in it. Treat that transfer as the clearest boundary on the page.

• Client extracts you received: these belong to the client and sit under your engagement terms. They never go to SourceX.
• Your cleaned and modeled files: model inputs, scenarios and outputs are work product governed by your contract. Do not offer or describe them.
• Benchmarks built across clients: these can embed other clients' information. Keep them out entirely.
• Third-party data: carrier rate cards and map or lane datasets you licensed carry their own terms.

What goes into an introduction is basic fit information: industry, rough headcount, years in operation and the fact that the owner could be reached. Nothing else.

When to raise it after a study

Never raise it in the middle of a live study when the client is stretched and your data access is the point.

How the introduction works

1. Confirm your consulting agreement does not restrict referrals or require disclosure of compensation.
2. Ask the sponsor for permission to introduce them, then register as a partner and share your link, or use the referral form with basic fit information.
3. SourceX qualifies size, history, data breadth and rights with the company.
4. The company completes its own data inventory of systems and exports.
5. Price and terms are agreed before buyers review; once the company is deal-ready, buyers typically respond within about two weeks.
6. On a closed deal the company is paid and delivery follows an executed agreement and the company's authorization.
7. Your reward follows once SourceX is paid.

What to say after the readout

The introduction email builder can draft a follow-up if the conversation moves to email.

How rewards work for a consultant

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 cumulative per referred company. The reward is payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; a lead, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is never deducted from the company's proceeds. Consultants should check their engagement letters, any client conflict policy and their firm's rules before accepting a reward linked to a client. See rewards and the program terms.

Common mistakes consultants make

Illustrative: a fictional regional plumbing-supply distributor finishes a study. Its CFO mentions the old WMS will be retired next year. The consultant asks only whether a full export will be preserved, then offers an introduction and leaves every file out of it.

Checks before you make the introduction

• The company, not you, will describe and export its records.
• The sponsor has agreed to the introduction.
• Your engagement terms allow it.
• You disclose the reward to the sponsor.
• The company passes the company fit checker preliminary screen.

When to skip it

Skip the introduction if the company holds mostly its customers' data without consent, keeps only recent history, has no one who can export data, or has already licensed the same data for AI training. A study client with fewer than 50 full-time employees at peak is also outside the baseline. Management consultants in other fields can compare notes on the management consultant referral page, and automation specialists have a parallel signal in RPA process design documents.

Next step

Choose one past or current client whose records impressed you, check your contract, and register as a partner. The owner can also apply directly at sourcex.si/apply using your referral link.