Support for Sticks and Glass
Sticks and Glass are a post-production facility in Leeds, with eight staff members. They deliver video-editing services to independent production companies as well as big names including the BBC, Channel 4, and CBS. Exemplas had the opportunity to work with them through the West Yorkshire Business Productivity Service (WYBPS), delivered in partnership with Leeds Beckett University on behalf of West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
In a case study we published in May 2024, we explored how we supported this Leeds-based creative SME. Following the latest data, we have an update on how our support has made a real impact on the outputs of this global business.
A brief recap
Sticks and Glass began working with Exemplas in mid-2023, with an interest in improving their productivity. They didn’t at that stage have any ideas of how to get a baseline, nor how to put the tools or metrics in place to measure or improve it. They would measure usage of their editing suites, however our diagnostic tool highlighted further Productivity Improvement Indicators that should be measured, specifically:
- Labour productivity
- Suite downtime
- Overall Resource Effectiveness (ORE)
- Resource utilisation
- Time duration
- On Time in Full
The purpose of measuring these indicators is to provide business leaders with the opportunity to make informed data-driven decisions to drive productivity. As mentioned in our previous case study, this data-driven insight approach lends itself to driving future growth. It reassures them of their own business management capability and grasp of key dynamics that drive the future profitability.
“Our confidence since the Productivity Improvement Plan work has increased massively as we now capture huge data sets around enquiries, work delivered and facility capacity. This information was non-existent before the PIP work and now informs large business decision-making.” – Adam Bennett, Sticks and Glass
The results
These optimised measures helped Sticks and Glass to identify bottlenecks, delays and underutilised capacity within the business. Three main areas of notable improvement were highlighted through the process:
Labour productivity
Baseline level: £3.13
Target level set: £3.13
Actual achieved: £7.14
Productivity in its simplest form, can either look at people or machines. The labour productivity measurement specifically looks at the productivity of people and is usually calculated on a weekly or yearly basis. To extract a true measurement, we measure labour costs, including the costs for overtime, against sales within the same time frame. For optimum labour productivity reporting, we advise companies to measure this every month. Sticks and Glass is a prime example of a business who has peaks and troughs each month and a yearly overview has the best view of productivity overall. We were delighted to see the value of labour productivity increase by 128% from £3.13 to £7.14. In simple terms, for each GBP£ of labour cost the business generated £7.14 in sales revenue.
Overall Resource Effectiveness (ORE)
Baseline level: 75%
Target level set: 85%
Actual achieved: 90%
The ORE, Overall Resource Effectiveness is a performance metric used in manufacturing and operational environments to measure how efficiently resources are used, such as machines, labour, and materials, to produce value. It explains an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by considering all resources, not just machinery.
Key components of ORE:
- Availability measures how much time resources (machines, labour, etc.) are available for productive work.
- Performance evaluates how efficiently resources are operated compared to their maximum potential.
- Quality assurance is a proportion of defect-free products or services delivered.
- Utilisation examines how effectively all available resources are assigned to productive tasks.
In the case of Sticks and Glass, this meant looking at the actual suites and computer systems. Effectiveness was measured by how many hours the suites were used, and how well the equipment was being used. The company tracked every minute the machines were being used, excluding breaks, and the output of those machines. Sticks & Glass invested heavily in their equipment to give them the best possible processing power, so ensuring they’re used to their ultimate effectiveness is of the utmost importance when reporting on Return on Investment (ROI) to their investors and is now a Key Performance Indicator (KPI).
Sticks and Glass have outperformed expectations, exceeded the target ORE and achieved a rate of 90% resource effectiveness – very close to the maximum possible score.
On Time in Full (OTIF)
Baseline level: 80%
Target level set: 82%
Actual achieved: 90%
The On Time in Full productivity measurement assesses how much of your output are correct and delivered on time. When Sticks & Glass work on a project, they set a timescale – the measure of OTIF is the measure of how well the project is completed in time and in full against the timescale set.
The measuring of the OTIF indicator gave the leadership team a better oversight and understanding – to make better informed decisions and give customers more accurate timescales going forward. This critical metric in supply chain management surpassed the target of 82% to reach an actual level of 90% and indicates that Sticks and Glass are meeting client expectations at a very high rate.
Key insights from Jonathan McMullon
“Sticks and Glass was the first creative business we supported through the West Yorkshire Business Productivity Service programme. A key insight from our work with them was the fact that the productivity is as relevant to the service industry as much as any manufacturing company. This isn’t a siloed programme; it can be used across a lot of different sectors. We’re aiming to make the entire county of West Yorkshire more productive through our service offering, whether it’s manufacturing or creative.” – Jonathan McMullon, Productivity Manager
Authored by
Jonathan McMullon – Productivity Manager
Learn more
The work we deliver for businesses is only currently available through productivity business support programmes, like the West Yorkshire Business Productivity Service. If you’re a business leader interested in developing your productivity, please speak with your local authority for support available in your area.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the productivity and growth work of Exemplas and Leeds Beckett University please contact Rob Sale, Head of Business Development, robs@exemplas.com.