TEES TECH AWARDS 2023
INNOVATION AWARD
SPONSORED BY VISUALSOFT
FINALIST
CORE SYSTEMS SOFTWARE
@ coresoftsystems
V-LAB ’ s Vladmir Vukovic ( right ) received the Innovation Award from Visualsoft ’ s Antony Hoyland .
WINNER
V-LAB
Founded in 2020 , V-LAB – which occupies one of the studios towards the top of the seafront Redcar Beacon – claimed the Innovation category for its gamechanging THERCOM product .
An indoor climate controller , THERCOM relies on the user ’ s thermal comfort , rather than a temperature setting .
It ’ s already been installed at V-LAB ’ S occasionally chilly Redcar Beacon office .
And after picking up the Innovation trophy , V-LAB founding director , Dr Vladmimir Vukovic , revealed it ’ s about to go on the market .
He said : “ We have developed a thermal intuitive comfort controller which allows people to control their heating by expressing how hot and cold they are , rather than by setting the temperature . And while doing that , it also shows the potential to save up to 35 per cent of energy .
“ We are launching this product on the market very soon . We ’ re already collecting pre-orders , so if anyone is interested , we are very much looking forward to getting our first customers .”
Born out of academic research , with Teesside University involved , V-LAB was attending its first Tees Tech Awards – and Dr Vukovic said it was a “ great event ”. And he revealed AI could soon have a part to play in the THERCOM journey . “ There are more innovations to come ”, he added . “ We are working on improvements – we want to bring some AI into it , to get it to learn what people prefer over time .
“ We need some initial samples so we are on the way to doing that . We are also looking to integrate with infrared heaters in the future , and to work with other businesses .”
SPONSOR ’ S MESSAGE
Antony Hoyland , Visualsoft ’ s VP of business development , said : “ The Digital Innovation Award celebrated the incredible potential of the North-East ’ s tech sector . The three finalists on the night would all have been worthy winners , and all had clear proof points around the value they are delivering to their respective markets . Congratulations to the winners on the evening , V-Lab , and we ’ re excited to see THERCOM hit the market soon !”
Founded in October 2022 , CORE was formed as a result of an R & D project undertaken by Darlington ’ s Rockliffe Construction Services ( NE ), a commercial quantity surveying company that was aware of the challenges faced by companies operating within the construction and renewables sectors and recognised that industries were in need of digitisation .
CORE has been the result – innovative software for the renewables and construction industries which streamlines project and contract management by providing decisionmakers access to real-time data and digital twins .
It records all activity in one place , delivering greener , cleaner , fast , accurate and intuitive data that is leading , not lagging .
FINALIST
FITFACTORY TECHNOLOGY
@ FitfactoryTech
Stockton-based Fitfactory ’ s leading products are its Scheduler app and its manufacturing production control software , Tricorn .
Scheduler can increase on-time delivery by 80 per cent , reduce work-in-progress by 50 per cent and increase productivity by 25 per cent by enabling manufacturers to schedule production more efficiently , resulting in faster turnaround times and higher customer satisfaction .
Tricorn is its user-friendly manufacturing production control system , which helps manufacturers streamline their operations from quotation to invoice .
There ’ s a next generation cloud-based enterprise resource planning solution under development too – a system that will incorporate shop floor data capture , machine monitoring and production scheduling , with seamless integration across the cloud .
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