downstream problems IT

[Yelenas597]

Пожалуйста, подскажите, что значит это выражение в следующем контексте (из текста справочного руководства по финансовому программному обеспечению).

Transaction references can contain up to four parts which are each defined separately. It is not mandatory that all four parts are used.
You can use transaction references in conjunction with number streams, which are used to define the next available number in a transaction reference sequence.
Note: You should not use the same number stream for two different transaction reference records, as this causes DOWNSTREAM PROBLEMS, and as a result you must use a prefix to differentiate the transaction references.

Заранее спасибо