Building proper data for PROPER SNACKS

Our Approach

1. Understanding user requirements and designing the solution

We started by understanding how the site ran, what mattered most to the team, and the questions their reporting needed to answer. In-person workshops with every identified user gave us their day-to-day frustrations and what better visibility would let them do differently. From those sessions, and follow-up reviews to confirm we had understood the brief, we produced three things:

• Prioritised user requirements, capturing what each group needed and why
• Report wireframes, setting out how the reporting would look and behave
• A target data architecture, defining where every figure would come from

All three were signed off with stakeholders across operations, engineering and IT, keeping every team engaged in the design from the outset. We ran this phase at pace, so that all teams were clear on what would be built and when.

From the beginning, the Fighting Fish team was keen to sit down with us to understand the full scope of the work we were looking for, which at this point was just thoughts and ideas. They quickly turned those initial ideas into actions that were detailed with time frames and feasibility whilst managing expectations.

As the reporting developed, the team drove weekly catch-up meetings with the 'super user' group to review timelines, actions and new features. These were super informative and well run, even when we kept asking for more and more additions to the dashboards. Aleksei from Fighting Fish set expectations and timelines that he always delivered on, while keeping the whole team involved, including the night shift.

Connor Bacon, Continuous Improvement Manager

2. Building and deploying the reporting

With the design agreed, we developed the first version of the reporting, using the approved wireframes and data architecture as a roadmap to keep the build true to what had been signed off. Central to the build was the data modelling, bringing Snowflake-hosted Redzone data, SharePoint files and on-premises databases together into a single model. That removed the need to jump between systems to piece a picture together, but the bigger gain was what it made possible: with production plan and Redzone data side by side, the team could see plan attainment for the first time, a measure neither system could produce on its own.

Once the first version was ready for review, we published the dashboards as the PRM (Proper Real Metrics) Reporting Suite and began rolling them out to the team.

3. Training, embedding and iterating

We ran multiple training sessions with all users over six weeks, covering a wide range of backgrounds: shop floor teams with no prior exposure to Power BI, central finance and planning functions, and factory leadership. Of course, a dashboard is only worth as much as the actions taken from it, so we ensured that the reports were embedded into the relevant meetings and forums, and that individuals knew what actions to take from the insights.

Throughout the rollout, we iterated the reporting based on the feedback and questions coming back, refining views and adding detail as people found new ways to use them. With the original scope delivered, PROPER chose to extend the project a further 10 weeks, allowing us to add additional functionality.

Results

PROPER SNACKS had a year of Redzone data and wanted more from it. Fourteen weeks later, the site had a single reporting suite drawing on five systems, in use across every shift and feeding the meetings where decisions get made. The headline outcomes:

• The PRM, our custom-built Power BI reporting suite, was delivered to over 40 users across three shifts and became the organisation's most viewed report, averaging over 1,000 weekly views
• 24 bespoke report pages, iterated on user feedback and drawing on five distinct data sources, with automated email subscriptions saving the shop floor team time gathering data so they could focus on actioning their biggest losses
• Making use of the data provided by the reporting, the team achieved a 19.5% OEE increase across the site, as well as a 200% capacity increase in the popcorn area, which had been identified as a key capacity bottleneck

Based on the success of the initial work and the relationship since, we recently transitioned the PROPER SNACKS team onto manta, our managed analytics suite for teams using Redzone. We're proud to continue working together and supporting PROPER's growth.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we worked together with Aleksei from the Fighting Fish team. What set Aleksei apart was his approach of involving us right from the beginning. He focused on understanding how he could support us, what we wanted to achieve, and how we wanted to measure the team's performance and improve our results.

Aseem Khan, Senior Operations Manager

Interested in a free assessment for your site?

Whether you're already using Redzone or still weighing up automated data capture, we'd be glad to come and spend a day on site, then share what we find and where we think the biggest opportunities are. For existing users of Redzone, that means a full review of your rollout against our Redzone Implementation Scorecard. If you're earlier in the journey, it's a conversation about what good would look like and what it would take to get there.

There's no obligation attached, and every site we visit gets our honest read based on the nuances of your operations. If you'd like to take us up on an assessment, or just want to hear more about how we work, please get in touch with the Fighting Fish team at hello@fightingfishltd.com.