MA.1:4.1 - Begin with the missing explanation

State the work being considered, the relevant result and the period over which the model must answer. Inspect the existing account with its user. Ask what it cannot presently explain: the resources required for another order, the effect of a changed batch size, the cost of unused provision or some other concrete dependency.

Use that question to choose the first observations. For a proposed order, obtain the actual processing route and the conditions under which it works. For a reusable product-cost account, obtain representative routes and the variation the account must retain. Ask the people who perform or arrange the work, and compare their explanation with available operating records. A ledger category locates recorded money; it does not by itself explain how the work consumes a resource.