The application shows gaps — what they mean

The missing items list is the most important screen in the entire application. It shows what is needed for completeness and — more importantly — in what order to provide it.

Why order matters

Missing items are ranked by the component’s mass share in the packaging. Unspecified cardboard accounting for eighty per cent of the mass is a problem of a different order from unspecified adhesive accounting for a fraction of one per cent. An alphabetical list would treat both equally.

Types of missing items

• Missing document — no evidence has been assigned to the component.
• Missing value — the document exists but does not contain the required designation.
• Undocumented value — the figure was entered manually, with no evidence to support it.

An empty field is not zero

It is worth repeating this, because in a spreadsheet an empty cell is added up as zero and the balance appears correct, even though nobody has tested anything. In the application, a missing item remains missing: the sum of four metals with an unspecified entry is not shown as zero, but as a dash.