Building active capacity management into the operating model
How a consultancy operating in 13 countries built active capacity management into its operating model, with COR as its platform for planning and analyzing team allocation.
Client voices
What the LLYC team says
"The COR team's flexibility has allowed us to keep adjusting and improving the entire tool over these two years — workflows, data, and visualization — tailored to the specifics of how we operate and to the needs of the business."
— Luis González · LLYC, 2025
"COR gives us a single source for analyzing project allocation, delivering valuable insight into profitability, variances, overservicing..."
— Jonathan Liege · LLYC, 2025
The case in 30 seconds
The challenge
LLYC was moving to a cross-functional talent allocation model across 13 countries, but had no way to see its teams' real capacity. Hours were reconciled manually across different systems, and leaders only saw variances on the 2nd or 3rd of the following month — when it was too late to course-correct.
What we did
We rolled out COR gradually, starting with Capacity Planning and connecting it to LLYC's corporate ecosystem until it became the single source for planning, logging, and analyzing allocation and hours. The rollout happened in four phases: Capacity Planning, corporate ecosystem integration, Time Tracking, and Project Management.
The result
Since January 2026, teams in all 13 countries have operated under the same standard, with dashboards that refresh every 15 minutes and variances managed before month-end close.
13 of 13
LLYC countries running on COR
1 standard
Same operating model across Europe, LATAM, and the US
15 min
Dashboard refresh rate
Unified
Allocation planning, logging, and analysis
Context
A global operation
in transformation
In 2023, LLYC was in the middle of one of the biggest shifts in its recent history: moving from fixed teams to a cross-functional model where professionals are assigned to projects based on availability and skills.
No unified view of capacity
- There was no unified system to manage capacity globally
- They needed a platform to log planned assignments by project
- Complex coordination across Europe, LATAM, and the US, each with its own logic
Costly reconciliation with no granularity
- Multiple data sources that needed to be unified and simplified
- Not enough granularity to catch variances in time
- Managers needed more operational visibility to anticipate variances and support profitability tracking
Time reporting disconnected from planning
- Hours were logged in a system teams found hard to use
- Leaders didn't see reported hours until month-end close (the 2nd and 3rd)
- They needed a time reporting system tied more closely to allocation planning
Tech integration as a non-negotiable
- The corporate ERP and CRM had to connect to the new platform
- Without that connection, global adoption wasn't viable
- A requirement identified from the very first conversation
The solution
A gradual rollout,
phase by phase
The rollout was gradual and strategic: it started with Capacity Planning and evolved into a comprehensive operations management platform.
Capacity Planning
The core of the solution
- A unified booking system for every Capacity Director across Europe, LATAM, and the US
- Dashboards refreshed every 15 minutes: availability, capacity, and forecasts
- A recurrence module that automates monthly allocation
- Integration with the HR system: leave, vacations, and public holidays by country
Corporate ecosystem integration
End-to-end project traceability
- Projects won in the CRM are created in COR through integrations built by LLYC's IT/Data Office team
- The ERP Work Order is linked to ensure project traceability
- Hours logged in COR sync with the company's other data sources
- Built jointly by COR and LLYC's corporate team, on proprietary APIs and integrations
Time Tracking
Planning and logging in one system
- Since January 2026, teams log their hours in COR
- Booked vs. reported hours compared, refreshed every 15 minutes
- Corporate calendar integration to speed up time entry
- Variances managed before month-end close — not after
Project Management
Ongoing expansion
- Teams progressively onboarded to project-based management
- Continuous improvement of Project Management features
- Rate Cards rolled out to manage projects billed by the hour
- Operations adapted to each team's pace of adoption
Results
Nearly two years in.
Results that sharpen visibility and operational control.
15 min
Dashboard refresh rate
A jointly built API delivers metrics refreshed every 15 minutes, enabling analysis and agile decision-making across the entire project lifecycle.
Unified
Data source reconciliation
Comparing booked vs. reported hours in COR replaced manual reconciliation across separate data sources.
Unified
Source for allocation planning and analysis
Planning, logging, and analyzing allocation and hours all come together in COR, and the data syncs with the company's other information sources.
Cross-functional
New talent allocation model
COR has been one of the technologies supporting and enabling the shift to a cross-functional talent allocation model.
13 of 13
LLYC countries running on COR
COR is deployed in every country where LLYC operates, with the same operating model for allocation planning and logging across Europe, LATAM, and the US.
Automatic
Time entry from the calendar
Corporate calendar integration streamlines time tracking, reducing friction and boosting adoption.
Who is LLYC?
A global consultancy operating on three continents
LLYC (Llorente y Cuenca) is a publicly listed global communications and public affairs consultancy with a presence in 13 countries and more than 1,000 professionals. Known for its rigor in corporate reputation management and its ability to deliver highly complex global projects, it is one of the leading marketing and corporate agencies in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world.
Industry
PR, Communications & Global Consulting
COR use
Planning, time tracking, and allocation analysis
Headquarters
Madrid, Spain
Operations
13 countries across Europe, LATAM, and the US
"This is a pivotal moment for us. One of the things we're missing with our current solutions is a Capacity Management system."
— José Manuel Casillas · LLYC, 2023
Does your consultancy need
global visibility into its capacity, too?
What LLYC achieved in two years — building active capacity management into its operating model — you can start building today.