A Stockton software company has turned a complex management problem at the Port of Middlesbrough into a new digital tool built here in the Tees Valley.
Sapere Software developed a web-based system for port owner and operator AV Dawson, whose long-term projects involve many moving parts and had become difficult to track through conventional reporting.
From business challenge to working prototype
Sapere competed against other regional software firms through the Tees Valley Business Challenge. Edge Innovation, which delivered the challenge for the Tees Valley Mayor and , assessed the companies’ technical ability, business approach and response to a complicated brief.
Shortlisted firms presented their ideas to a panel of specialists and an AV Dawson representative. Sapere’s proposal first received a £5,000 for feasibility work. A further £45,000 then allowed the Stockton team to turn the concept into a working prototype.
The resulting dashboard gives AV Dawson’s management team a real-time view of project progress, strategic performance and other information used for business decisions. Interactive reports replace the delay and fragmentation that can occur when several long projects are monitored through separate documents.
AV Dawson head of IT Neil Warren said the company needed a bespoke system that could track strategic targets while making performance visible to decision-makers. The tool produced by Sapere delivered that combination.
Two local businesses solving a local problem
The project is a useful example of innovation funding doing more than buying an off-the-shelf product. AV Dawson set a genuine operational challenge, local firms competed to solve it and the winning company gained the budget to test and build its answer.
Sapere commercial director Paul Drake said the team would continue working with AV Dawson to and develop the software across the business. That relationship may prove as valuable as the first prototype, because a system built around live projects needs to evolve with the people using it.
For Sapere, the commission that a smaller Tees Valley developer can handle an industry-specific problem for a major port operator. For AV Dawson, it keeps specialist spending and technical knowledge close to home while giving directors a clearer picture of work in progress.
The initial funding came from the UK Community Renewal Fund. It supported £50,000 of feasibility and prototype work, taking the idea from a competition pitch to software intended for daily use at the Port of Middlesbrough.
Archive : Project, funding and company details were checked against the Tees Valley Combined Authority report originally published on 7 December 2022. The original archive date and image are .