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Master Data Management

Decide which value survives, field by field.

Survivorship rules choose the best value from conflicting sources for each attribute, and show you exactly what changes before a rule goes live.

Walk through it All capabilities

How it works

Edit a rule and preview its effect on six bearings

Pick an attribute, switch between priority, recency and confidence, reorder sources or change the threshold. The table highlights the surviving value and counts what would change. Pin a value to make it a manual exception.

ATTRIBUTE

SURVIVORSHIP RULE

  1. 1ERP
  2. 2Supplier feed
  3. 3PIM steward

No unsaved changes to this rule.

Source values and surviving value per record
RecordERPSupplier feedPIM stewardSurvives
BRG-62040.24 lbday 1, conf 0.700.235 lbday 5, conf 0.95empty0.24 lbERP
BRG-62050.28 lbday 2, conf 0.700.282 lbday 4, conf 0.95empty0.28 lbERP
BRG-6206empty0.44 lbday 6, conf 0.900.43 lbday 3, conf 0.800.44 lbSupplier feed
BRG-63050.51 lbday 3, conf 0.700.51 lbday 2, conf 0.90empty0.51 lbERP
BRG-63060.77 lbday 6, conf 0.600.762 lbday 1, conf 0.95empty0.77 lbERP
BRG-63070.95 lbday 2, conf 0.70empty0.97 lbday 5, conf 0.850.95 lbERP

The capability

Different attributes deserve different rules

When several sources describe the same entity, survivorship decides which value becomes the trusted one. A single rule rarely fits every attribute: ERP may be authoritative for pricing units, a supplier feed for measured weights, and a product steward for customer-facing descriptions.

Autonera applies survivorship per attribute. Source priority picks the highest-ranked source that has a value. Recency picks the most recently updated value. Confidence picks the strongest value above a minimum, and when nothing qualifies, the record is routed to a steward instead of guessing. Rules can be combined with ownership and completeness logic where needed.

Because rule changes can alter thousands of records, every edit shows its impact before it is saved: how many surviving values would change and which records they belong to. Stewards can pin a manual exception for a specific record, which survives future rule changes until it is released.

Problems it solves

Where this work usually breaks down

  1. 01

    One global source ranking

    A single priority list forces ERP descriptions or supplier units to win everywhere, even where they are wrong.

  2. 02

    Rule changes with unknown consequences

    Adjusting a ranking silently rewrites values across the master, and nobody can say which.

  3. 03

    Corrections that do not stick

    A steward fixes a value and the next source refresh overwrites it.

  4. 04

    Guessing when no source is trustworthy

    Rules always pick something, even when every candidate is low confidence.

In industrial operations

A bearing distributor reconciles weights for freight accuracy

Freight quotes were inaccurate because ERP weights, entered years ago, always overrode precise supplier-measured weights.

  1. Survivorship for unit weight changes from ERP-first to supplier-first.
  2. The impact preview shows which records would change before the rule is saved.
  3. Two weights confirmed by warehouse measurement are pinned as manual exceptions.
  4. Descriptions keep a separate rule that prefers steward-approved text.

Result: Weights come from the most accurate source, verified corrections persist, and descriptions stay customer-ready.

Functional capabilities

What Attribute Survivorship includes

Field-level rules
Configure survivorship separately for each attribute.
Source priority
Rank sources per attribute with automatic fallback when a source has no value.
Recency and confidence
Prefer the newest value or the highest-confidence value above a threshold.
Manual exceptions
Pin a steward value per record that persists through refreshes and rule changes.
Rule-change impact preview
See how many surviving values change before saving a rule.
Steward routing
Send records with no qualifying value to review instead of selecting a weak value.

Autonomous operations

How autonomous execution changes attribute survivorship

Agents monitor survivorship outcomes and recommend rule adjustments when patterns show a source is consistently more accurate.

Agents carry out

  • Detect attributes where survivors are frequently corrected
  • Simulate proposed rule changes against the full population
  • Route records with no qualifying value
  • Re-evaluate survivors after source refreshes

People decide

  • Approve rule changes and their scope
  • Set and release manual exceptions
  • Decide confidence thresholds

Evidence recorded

  • Rule version behind every surviving value
  • Impact report for each rule change
  • Exception history with reasons

Related capabilities

Works alongside

Feature guide

Golden Records

A trusted master record with source cross-references, provenance and field ownership.

Feature guide

Match & Merge

Find duplicate records across sources, decide what survives and keep a reversible golden record.

Feature guide

Entity Resolution & Duplicate Detection

Normalize, score and cluster records, with an ambiguous band for steward review.

Feature guide

Data Profiling & Rule Discovery

Profile a new dataset and turn observed patterns into reviewed validation rules.

Capability area

Master Data Management

See where Attribute Survivorship fits in the wider Master Data Management capability.

Buyer FAQs

Questions evaluators ask

Can every attribute have a different rule?

Yes. Survivorship is configured per attribute, and families or domains can have their own rule sets.

What happens when no source meets the rule?

The attribute is left unresolved and routed to a steward, rather than selecting a low-quality value.

Do manual corrections survive refreshes?

Pinned exceptions persist through source refreshes and rule changes until a steward releases them.

How do we know what a rule change will do?

Before saving, Autonera shows how many surviving values would change and which records are affected.

Is survivorship used only after a merge?

No. It also resolves values continuously as linked sources update a golden record.

Your next step

See Attribute Survivorship on data like yours.

Bring a real file, catalog or record set. We will walk through how Autonera would handle it and where your team keeps the final say.

Book a Demo