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Use the exercise, copy the handover template and check the result. No AI tool is required. All example data is fictional.

Open the editable handover template · Download the fictional CSV · Download the checks

1. Shipment exercise and answer key

## Finished starter exercise — entirely fictional

Report period: March 31, 2026. All timestamps below use the same fictional local time zone. These are generated practice records, not customer data.

```csv
order_id,shipment_id,order_ts,ship_ts,ship_cost
O1001,S2001,2026-03-31 06:00,2026-03-31 08:00,8.00
O1001,S2002,2026-03-31 06:00,2026-03-31 10:00,5.00
O1002,S2003,2026-03-30 12:00,2026-03-31 09:00,10.00
O1003,S2004,2026-03-30 23:00,2026-03-31 10:00,18.00
```

## Standalone prompt

```text
Create a short shipment summary using only the four practice rows above.
Report day is 2026-03-31. Treat all timestamps as the same local time zone.
Do not infer the report day from a promise date, filename or today.

Validate: shipment_id is unique; repeated order_id records agree on order_ts;
timestamps parse; ship_ts is not earlier than order_ts; costs are numeric and
non-negative. If any condition fails, report the rows and stop.

Count shipments as the number of unique shipment_id values shipped on the
report day. Count orders as distinct order_id values shipped on that day.
Do not count a split shipment as a second order.

Total shipping cost is the sum of ship_cost across all selected shipment rows.
Shipping cost per order is that total divided by distinct orders, not shipments.
For each order, use its earliest selected ship_ts minus order_ts for elapsed
hours. Report the median of those per-order elapsed-hour values.

Show formulas, the selected row count and the intermediate per-order table.
If no rows qualify, report zero shipments/orders and leave cost per order and
median elapsed time blank with a reason. Do not divide by zero.

Do not infer labor hours, overtime, productivity, profitability, delays against
a promise, trends, causes or operational recommendations. No fields for those
were supplied. Do not describe any real person or company. Finish with a short
Gaps section listing the information needed for a useful real-world review.
```

## Expected answer and hand check

| Item | Expected value | Check |
|---|---:|---|
| Shipments | 4 | Four unique shipment IDs |
| Orders | 3 | O1001, O1002, O1003 |
| Shipping cost | $41.00 | 8 + 5 + 10 + 18 |
| Cost per order | $13.67, rounded | 41 ÷ 3 |
| O1001 elapsed time | 2 hours | Earliest shipment at 08:00 minus order at 06:00 |
| O1002 elapsed time | 21 hours | 12:00 prior day → 09:00 report day |
| O1003 elapsed time | 11 hours | 23:00 prior day → 10:00 report day |
| Median elapsed time | 11 hours | Middle of 2, 11, 21 |

These elapsed values use the earliest selected shipment for the report day. They do not measure full-order completion or any service promise. The cost is shipping cost, not profit or total fulfillment cost.

2. Finished practice handover

# Worked handover — entirely fictional
Version: 1.0 | Prepared by role: Practice analyst | Checked by role: Practice reviewer
Report day: March 31, 2026 | Time zone: one consistent fictional local zone
Scope: four supplied shipment records; data is a practice extract, not proof of all activity on that day.

## Checked facts
- 4 selected shipment rows; 4 unique shipment IDs.
- 3 distinct orders: O1001, O1002 and O1003.
- Shipping cost: 8 + 5 + 10 + 18 = $41.
- Shipping cost per distinct order: 41 / 3 = $13.67 rounded to cents.
- First selected shipment elapsed hours: O1001 = 2; O1002 = 21; O1003 = 11.
- Median: sort 2, 11, 21; the middle value is 11 hours.

## What changed
Unknown. No prior comparable period was supplied.

## Open questions
- Does the extract include every shipment for the intended report day? Ask the source owner.
- What work remains open? An open-work snapshot was not supplied.
- Were orders late against a commitment? Promised service timestamps were not supplied.
- What is total fulfillment cost or labor productivity? Labor hours and other costs were not supplied.

## Next action
Practice report owner: confirm the extract coverage and metric definitions before a real operational decision. Due time: set with the receiving role; no real deadline is invented here.

## Handover note
This is a checked description of the supplied practice rows. Shipping cost is not total fulfillment cost. Time to the first selected shipment is not full-order completion. Do not infer causes or recommendations from missing inputs.

3. Before you use your own data

# Validation checklist — before you share a summary
Floor Read free starter | Version 1.0

1. Define the report period and time zone explicitly. Do not let a filename, the current date or a future promise date decide the report day.
2. Check that required columns exist. Read dates and numeric fields; stop on values you cannot interpret consistently.
3. Check the unique record key. A duplicate shipment ID needs review, not automatic deletion.
4. For repeated order IDs, confirm the order timestamp agrees. A split shipment is a second shipment, not a second order.
5. Select rows using the agreed ship date and report-day boundary. Record the selected row count.
6. Reject shipment times earlier than order times. In this practice exercise, reject missing, negative or nonnumeric shipping costs.
7. Recalculate totals from the selected rows. Use distinct orders for shipping cost per order; do not substitute the shipment count.
8. For this exercise only, calculate each order's time to its earliest selected shipment, then take the median of those order-level hours.
9. With no selected rows, report zero counts and leave ratios and elapsed-time summaries blank with a reason.
10. Keep definitions next to results. Shipping cost is not total fulfillment cost. Time to the earliest selected shipment is not full-order completion.
11. Do not infer labor productivity, profitability, late orders, trends or causes from fields that are absent.
12. Give each unresolved question an owner role. Recheck the answer after new information arrives.

Practice answer: 4 shipments; 3 orders; $41 shipping cost; $13.67 per order rounded; per-order hours 2, 21 and 11; median 11 hours.
This answer applies only to fictional-shipments.csv, not to an unknown real export.

If this is useful, request the optional $149 custom adaptation. The free starter remains yours to use.