What gets measured, how it's tracked, where the gaps are, and what should be measured. Framed around ROCE — the metric Paul identified as the key measure of business performance. For the commercial framing and how these metrics move ROCE, see the ROCE Strategy.
Updated April 2026 with working-capital-health metrics from the ROCE strategy — see the new ROCE Strategy levers section and the strategy page for the commercial frame.
From the discovery sessions
Business Goals
What the team actually need to see - drawn directly from the process walkthroughs and discovery sessions.
Trading visibility
Know our position on each wool type
Are we long or short? What does it cost to buy more at today's market price? Buying decisions should be data-driven, not gut feel.
Current: Broken. Product grouping is unreliable - described as "airy fairy". Position reports are meaningless (PP2/PP7).
Trading visibility
Daily margin and P&L by position
Position report showing profit and loss based on average cost of current materials plus replacement cost at today's price.
Current: Monthly batch via MARGIN_REPORT stored procedure. No real-time visibility during trading.
Financial control
Extend cash flow visibility from 4 weeks to 3-6 months
Purchases are ~80% of costs. Forecasted cash outflows so the team can plan ahead and negotiate with suppliers, not react week-to-week.
Current: 4 weeks visibility only. Some purchase contracts don't even have due dates.
Financial control
Know which customers are actually profitable
Customer and supplier profitability ranking so traders prioritise high-margin relationships and defend pricing against competitor undercutting.
Current: Not available. Margins squeezed by Chinese pricing with no visibility into which relationships are worth defending.
Operational planning
Plan production 2-3 weeks ahead, not 5-10 days
Forward visibility into Chadwicks capacity to schedule blends and commit to customer delivery dates reliably.
Current: 5-10 days. Weekly verbal updates from Chadwicks. Standard Wool is ~90% of their volume but can't see the schedule.
Operational planning
See what old stock is costing us
Stock ageing alerts and reporting to reduce write-offs and make financing and warehousing costs visible against margins.
Current: Not tracked. No way to see how long material sits in the warehouse or what it's costing in financing.
Home Scour / Chadwicks
Know when Chadwicks covers its fixed costs
Blend results received per month tracked against breakeven threshold. Paul: "when we hit over x amount of kilos in a month, we start to print money."
Current: Blend result data exists in WTS but not tracked against breakeven. Achievable within existing scope — no Chadwicks data sharing needed.
By-products
Monitor wool grease revenue as a separate P&L line
120 tons/year with price volatility from £2 to £5/kg creating a £360k swing on the bottom line. Needs active monitoring.
Current: Sales tracked in Dynamics GP but not monitored as a live metric against targets.
Home Scour / Chadwicks
Track production costs that aren't visible today
Energy usage, effluent discharge, consumables/chemicals against targets. Paul: "we don't track at the moment."
Current: Chadwicks internal costs. Only partially achievable within existing scope — SW can track the aggregate processing cost per kg trend from invoices, but individual cost lines require a data sharing agreement with Chadwicks.
Divisional contribution
Know when each division crosses into profit
Divisional trading groups hitting x margin to cover x overheads. Each division needs its own breakeven view.
Current: Not systematically tracked. Individual P&L lines exist but divisional contribution not consolidated.
Outcomes
Lagging Indicators
Results metrics. These tell you how the business performed, but by the time they move it's too late to change course.
?
ROCE
Monthly
Margin Report
4 wks
Cash Flow Horizon
?
Customer Profitability
0
Stock Ageing Visibility
Financial Outcomes
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
Operating profit ÷ capital employed. Paul: "the key one"
Not calculated
Improving
Components in Dynamics GP but not consolidated into a ROCE view
Gap
Margin per deal
Margin calculated per sale contract / invoice
Monthly batch calc
Real-time
MARGIN_REPORT stored procedure. Monthly batch, not real-time
Partial
Revenue by division (HSC / Merch / Greasy)
Revenue split across business divisions
Known
-
WTS/Dynamics GP division code split
Tracked
Debtor days
Average days to collect payment from customers
Known
<60 days
Dynamics GP aged debtors report
Tracked
Creditor days
Average days to pay suppliers
Known
-
Dynamics GP aged creditors report
Tracked
Customer profitability
Revenue minus cost per customer relationship
Not available
Ranked
Not tracked
Gap
Stock & Fulfilment Outcomes
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Dispatch completion rate
% of called-off orders dispatched complete and on time
Not tracked
95%+
Not measured
Gap
Average stock age (days)
Mean days material sits in warehouse
Not tracked
<90 days
Not calculated
Gap
Stock turnover (by lot / department / attributes)
Paul: "top 10 and bottom 10, does it drive our decision making?"
Not tracked
Ranked view
Not calculated. Needs lot-level aging with dept and attribute breakdown
Gap
Stock write-offs
Paul: write-offs above a certain value need prior authorisation
Not tracked
Minimise + authorisation threshold
Ad-hoc adjustments in Dynamics GP. No approval workflow
Gap
Predictive
Leading Indicators
These move before the outcomes do. If you watch these, you can change course before the lagging indicators tell you it's too late.
Paul: "the forward sales position should be able to predict the future for us"
Data exists
Predictive view
WTS SALE tables. Not consolidated into forward view
Partial
Supply market position
Paul: "supply shortage period for next 5 years — lower sheep numbers post-covid"
Gut feel
Inform stock strategy
Market knowledge in traders' heads. No systematic tracking
Gap
Financial LeadingDrives: Cash Flow, Currency Risk
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Cash flow forecast horizon
How far ahead cash position is visible
4 weeks
3-6 months
Manual spreadsheet
Gap
Currency exposure
Open foreign currency purchase obligations
Partially known
Fully hedged
WTS CURR_CONTRACT table
Partial
Currency hedge ratio
% of exposure covered by forward contracts
Not tracked
-
Not consolidated
Gap
Currency under/over (realised hedge variance)
Paul: "traders cover currency and finance team reports on the under and overs"
Manual reporting
Automated
Finance team reports manually. Not consolidated or automated
Partial
Production LeadingDrives: Delivery Dates, Stock Availability
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Blend throughput (kg/week)
Weekly processing volume
Verbal estimate
Scheduled
Weekly Chadwicks discussion
Gap
Receipt-to-scour lead time (per lot)
Paul: warehouse calling in wool too early "drives me mad"
Not tracked
Minimise
Receipt date in WTS/DEWSDB0, blend date in BLEND_RESULTS. Data exists but not joined
Partial
ROCE Strategy framework
Working capital health — the levers that move ROCE
Added April 2026. These are the metrics introduced by the ROCE strategy — composite and leading measures that capture capital efficiency, tail leakage, and commercial discipline. See the strategy page for the full frame. All currently gaps — proposed additions to the platform.
Composite — Working Capital HealthRolls up the leading numbers below into a single health score
The measures that tell you how things are running right now.
Trading Operations
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Sales volume (kg dispatched)
Kg dispatched per period
Known
-
WTS per contract line
Tracked
Average selling price per kg
Weighted average sale price per kg clean
Known
-
WTS contract pricing
Tracked
Product mix (HSC vs Merch vs Greasy)
Volume split by division / product type
Known
-
WTS division codes
Tracked
Forward contracts created
Number and volume of forward sale contracts booked
Known
-
WTS SALE table
Tracked
Customer call-off rate
% of contracted volume customers actually call off for delivery
Not tracked
-
Not measured
Gap
Greasy wool purchase price
Price paid per kg for greasy wool
Known
Competitive
WTS PURCHASE_ITEMS
Tracked
Source mix (auction / farm / import)
Proportion of wool bought through each channel
Partially
Optimise
WTS purchase records
Partial
Currency rates on export sales
Exchange rate impact on export revenue — primarily USD and EUR
Partially
Net exposure view
Dynamics GP invoice currency. Hedging not consolidated
Partial
Currency rates on purchases
Exchange rate impact on imported wool costs — primarily AUD and NZD
Partially
Net exposure view
Dynamics GP purchase currency. Hedging not consolidated
Partial
Production Operations
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Yield (greasy to clean %)
Conversion efficiency per blend
Per blend
Optimise
WTS BLEND_RESULTS
Tracked
Expected vs actual yield variance
Purchase estimate compared to blend result
Partially
Minimise
Purchase estimate vs blend result
Partial
Scouring cost per kg
Third-party scouring cost at Chadwicks
Known
Reduce
Chadwicks invoices
Tracked
Scouring efficiency
Batch quality and throughput metrics
Partially
Optimise
dbScour batch data
Partial
Conditioning allowances
Adjustments applied to invoiced amounts based on moisture content
Known
-
WTS invoice conditioning calculations
Tracked
Lot scouring performance
Paul: "knowing the top performers...does this info feedback to traders?"
Not tracked
Ranked view
Yield data in BLEND_RESULTS but not ranked or fed back to traders
Gap
Dispatch-to-invoice match rate
Paul: rare cases where goods dispatched without invoice generated
Not tracked
100%
No system control preventing dispatch without invoice
Gap
Stock Operations
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Stock on hand (bales/weight)
Current inventory position
Known
-
DEWSDB0 stockLot/stockBale
Tracked
Bale count accuracy
Physical count vs system record
Physical vs system
100%
Periodic count
Partial
Haulage costs
Domestic road transport costs between locations
Known
Reduce
Haulier invoices in Dynamics GP
Tracked
Shipping — export containers
Sea freight cost for export containers
Known
Reduce
Shipping line invoices in Dynamics GP
Tracked
Warehousing / holding cost
Cost of storing wool between purchase and dispatch
Not tracked
Per-lot allocation
Facility costs known but not allocated per lot
Gap
Right stock vs slow-moving stock
Paul: "we need stock of the right materials not the slow moving stock"
Not tracked
Classification by demand risk
No classification of stock by demand risk or turnover rate
Gap
Supplier invoice variance
Paul: "sometimes BG charge us for bales that have already left the premises"
Not cross-checked
Automated reconciliation
Storage/carriage invoices in Dynamics GP. Stock in DEWSDB0. No matching
Gap
Home Scour / Chadwicks
Production & Processing Metrics
Metrics from Paul's email (25 Mar) covering the fixed-cost-heavy Chadwicks operation. Most are gaps or partially tracked — these are the numbers Paul needs to manage the processing side of the business.
Production ThroughputDrives: HSC breakeven, capacity utilisation
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Blend results received (kg/month) vs breakeven
SW-side view of Chadwicks throughput. Paul: "when we hit over x kg/month we start to print money"
Data exists, not tracked
Above breakeven
BLEND_RESULTS in WTS — blend dates and clean weights. Breakeven is a known target
Partial
Monthly kg breakeven threshold
Volume at which Chadwicks covers all fixed costs
Known conceptually
Live tracking
Not tracked as a live metric against actual production
Gap
Home Scour division throughput
Paul: "ensuring Home Scour division has enough throughput to keep Chadwicks running 100%"
Not tracked
100% utilisation
Managed through weekly verbal coordination
Gap
Capacity utilisation %
Percentage of available scouring capacity being used
Not visible
2-3 weeks ahead
No digital visibility
Gap
Variable Production CostsChadwicks internal costs — only partially achievable within existing scope
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Consumables & chemical usage
Chadwicks internal. Partial proxy: processing cost per kg trend
Chadwicks internal
In line with targets
SW sees aggregate processing invoice only. Individual cost lines require Chadwicks data sharing
Gap
Energy usage
Chadwicks internal. Partial proxy: processing cost per kg trend
Chadwicks internal
Per-kg tracking
SW has no visibility. Requires Chadwicks data sharing
Gap
Overtime hours
Chadwicks internal. Target <30 hours
Chadwicks internal
<30 hours
Chadwicks payroll. Only visible to SW if overtime is billed separately from per-kg rate
Gap
Effluent discharge levels
Chadwicks internal. No partial proxy available
Chadwicks internal
Within regulatory limits
Chadwicks measurement. Requires data sharing. No SW-side proxy
Gap
By-product RevenuePaul also listed: shoddy, plastics, sludge — assumed Chadwicks revenue (out of scope)
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Wool grease production volume
~120 tons/year
Known
Stable
Production records at Chadwicks
Tracked
Wool grease market price
Paul: "£2 to £5 range — £360k swing at 120 tons"
Sales prices known
Active monitoring
Sales in Dynamics GP. Market monitoring not systematic
Partial
Divisional
Divisional Contribution Metrics
Paul's email frames the business as divisions that each need to cover their own costs before contributing to group profit. These metrics track whether each division is pulling its weight.
Divisional BreakevenPaul: "divisional trading groups hitting x margin covers x overheads"
Metric
Current
Target
How Tracked
Status
Divisional margin vs overhead coverage
HSC, Merch, Tops — each covering their share of overheads
Not consolidated
Each division profitable
Individual lines in Dynamics GP. Not consolidated as divisional contribution
Gap
Punta / SWC collection throughput (kg)
Paul: "ensuring Punta division and SWC has enough throughput to cover operational costs of collecting the wool"
Not tracked
Above breakeven
Volumes in transaction records but not reported
Gap
Punta / SWC collection operational costs
Cost of sourcing, grading, and transporting wool through collection network
Partially known
Per-kg allocation
Cost lines in Dynamics GP but not consolidated per-kg
Partial
Punta / SWC divisional breakeven volume
Collection volume at which division covers its operational costs
Not calculated
Live tracking
Not calculated. Paul wants each division to know its breakeven
Gap
Home Scour contribution
Processing revenue minus fixed and variable costs at Chadwicks
Partially known
Above breakeven
Chadwicks invoices in Dynamics GP. Per-kg revenue known but not consolidated as a single divisional P&L
Partial
Sales invoicing amount & margin
Paul: "feeding into sales invoicing amount and margin on those sales"
Monthly batch
Real-time by division
MARGIN_REPORT + Dynamics GP. Not split by division in a useful way
Partial
Purchasing shortfall report
Paul: "shopping list of stock to purchase to cover orders"
Not produced
Actionable procurement list
Would require position report + blend recipe derivation to convert sale commitments into purchasing requirements
Gap
Stock days by division
Paul: "if these creep out we start borrowing more money and pay more storage"
Not tracked
Minimise
Stock quantities known but stock days not calculated per division
Gap
Recommendations
Proposed Metrics
New metrics that would close the gaps identified above.
Daily trading margin
High
Real-time margin per lot replacing the monthly batch process. Gives traders and finance visibility into margin per contract without waiting for month-end.
WTS lot_cost + sale price
Finance
Position by product group
Critical
Long/short exposure per product group. Blocked by PP2 (broken product taxonomy). Once product grouping is reliable, this calculates exposure by comparing forward sales against allocated stock and unallocated inventory.
SALE_ITEM vs ALLOCATION + stock
Trading
Average stock age (days)
Medium
Mean days between receipt and dispatch per lot, with percentage over 90 days. Identifies slow-moving stock that ties up working capital and helps prioritise blend scheduling to shift older inventory first.
Purchase receipt date vs SALE_INVOICE date
Finance
Blend yield variance
Medium
Actual yield vs expected at purchase, tracked per source and wool type. Highlights suppliers or types that consistently over- or under-perform expectations, directly affecting margin.
PURCHASE_ITEMS yield vs BLEND_RESULTS actual
Trading
Processing capacity utilisation
Medium
Weekly kg processed vs available capacity at Chadwicks. Requires a data sharing arrangement, but given Standard Wool is roughly 90% of their volume, this is a reasonable ask. Replaces verbal weekly updates with a digital view.
Requires Chadwicks data sharing
Operations
Forward contract coverage
High
Percentage of open forward sales commitments covered by allocated stock. Highlights exposure where sales have been committed but wool hasn't been sourced or allocated, giving traders a clear view of procurement urgency.
SALE_ALLOCATION vs SALE_ITEM
Trading
Currency hedge ratio
Medium
Percentage of foreign currency purchase exposure covered by forward currency contracts. Currently tracked manually; automating this gives finance a real-time view of unhedged currency risk across the book.
CURR_CONTRACT vs purchase exposure
Finance
ROCE (consolidated)
Critical
Paul's key metric. Operating profit divided by capital employed, calculated across all divisions. Currently the components exist in Dynamics GP but nobody consolidates them into a ROCE view.
Dynamics GP P&L + balance sheet
Finance (Paul)
Chadwicks production vs breakeven
High
Daily/monthly kg at Chadwicks tracked against the fixed cost breakeven threshold. Everything above breakeven is high-margin contribution. Paul: "we start to print money."
Requires Chadwicks production data
Operations / Finance
Divisional contribution P&L
High
Each division (HSC, Merch, Tops, Punta/SWC) showing margin vs overhead share. Paul wants to know when each division crosses into profit.
Dynamics GP + WTS division codes
Finance (Paul)
Energy & effluent tracking
Medium
Energy usage per kg processed and effluent discharge levels. Paul flagged both as untracked. Growing cost pressure and regulatory requirement respectively.
Utility bills + effluent monitoring (TBC)
Operations
Wool grease P&L line
Medium
Separate by-product revenue tracking with market price monitoring. At 120 tons/year, every £1/kg = £120k on the bottom line. Currently not monitored as a distinct metric.
Dynamics GP sales + market price feed
Finance
Stock quality classification
Medium
Classifying stock as right/in-demand vs slow-moving/speculative. Paul: "we need stock of the right materials not the slow moving stock which has maybe been bought speculatively and now out of fashion."
Stock age + turnover rate + demand signals
Trading / Finance
Purchasing shortfall report
High
Paul: "shopping list of stock to purchase to cover orders, AI support on stock that we should buy based on recent sales pattern vs stock holding." Actionable output derived from position + blend recipes.
Position report + blend recipe derivation + stock
Trading
Lot scouring performance ranking
High
Paul: "knowing the top performers...does this info feedback to traders and we sell more of the lots that run well?" Rank lots by yield achieved and blend consistency. Feed back to procurement decisions.
BLEND_RESULTS yield + condition certificate data
Trading / Operations
Receipt-to-scour lead time
High
Paul's biggest frustration: warehouse calling in wool too early. Per-lot metric showing days between receipt and scouring. Outliers surface the problem without needing an analyst.
WTS/DEWSDB0 receipt date vs BLEND_RESULTS blend date
Operations / Finance
Supplier invoice reconciliation
Medium
Paul: "sometimes BG charge us for bales that have already left the premises, always a job that gets left." Automated cross-check of storage/carriage invoices against actual stock movements.
Dynamics GP invoices vs DEWSDB0 stock movements
Finance
Blend substitution analysis
Medium
Paul: "would the system be able to advise us of the merits of selling a slightly inferior blend for a client who can accept it?" Cost/benefit of creating a new type vs taking from an existing blend.
Blend history + client acceptance + stock holding costs
Trading
Currency under/over reporting
Medium
Paul: "traders cover currency and finance team reports on the under and overs." Automate the variance between hedged rate and actual rate on settled transactions.
CURR_CONTRACT hedged rates vs actual settlement rates
Finance
Dispatch-to-invoice control
Medium
Paul: rare cases where goods dispatched without invoice. System control to prevent dispatch without corresponding invoice generation. Target: 100% match rate.
Dispatch records vs SALE_INVOICE generation
Trading / Shipping
Residual classification & lifecycle
High
From the ROCE strategy. Classify lots as residuals below 10% of original or a kg floor. Track their own cycle time, clearance rate, and write-off £. The tail is where margin quietly leaks — invisible without this classification.
Lot quantity tracking + original weight + clearance events
Trading / Operations
Full carrying cost per lot per day
High
From the ROCE strategy. Capital cost + storage + insurance surfaced per lot per day. Makes opportunity cost concrete at decision moments — "this lot is costing £12/day to sit" reframes ageing trade-offs.
Lot value × cost of capital + allocated storage + insurance
Finance
Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC)
High
From the ROCE strategy. DIO + DSO − DPO as a single headline. Components exist in Dynamics GP but aren't consolidated. The cleanest expression of working capital efficiency in a single number.
Stock days + debtor days − creditor days from GP
Finance (Paul)
CLTV segmentation & share-of-trade signals
Medium
From the ROCE strategy. Customer lifetime value segmented by margin × volume × trajectory × estimated share-of-trade. Harvest-mode growth comes from capturing more wallet share with existing customers, not preventing churn — so the signal to watch is whether SW share is growing, holding, or slipping per customer, not pure retention probability.
Sale history time-series + payment behaviour + relationship data
Trading / Finance
Price Book adherence & margin leakage
High
From the ROCE strategy. Price Book as a margin discipline lever — % of quotes within guardrails, plus quoted vs contracted vs invoiced margin leakage detection. Modest but near-certain margin recovery.
Price Book + paired artefacts (quote ↔ contract ↔ invoice)
Trading / Finance
Thomas Chadwicks group contribution per line hour
Medium
From the ROCE strategy. Blend priority score — combines realised margin, lot age, carrying cost avoided, residual clearance value. Optimises scheduling for group contribution rather than local Thomas Chadwicks efficiency or SW priority in isolation.
Thomas Chadwicks scheduling + lot age + carrying cost + external job margin