Public Funding for Pulse Systems Ltd

ProductivAI will develop a novel toolkit for process optimisation in PCB manufacturing and vacuum coatings industries, enabling process efficiency improvements resulting in reduced energy consumption and reduced waste and improved ability to meet challenging (and commercially attractive) specifications and short turnaround times. Current lean six-sigma methodologies provide efficiency gains through continuous improvement following highly manual procedures over process iterations. ProductivAI will make a step change in the ability of companies to achieve "right first time" production output to challenging specifications and stringent quality criteria whilst reducing energy consumption, waste and cost through higher yields, more efficient processes and faster throughput with potential for significant annual savings. These benefits will be achieved through the use of a machine-learning optimisation approach tailored, for the first time, specifically to the needs of electronics and coatings industries and integrated within a lean six-sigma framework. The system will automate and massively speed up process improvement and reuse of historical data to optimise process conditions. Novel aspects of our approach include the use of a special two-stage optimisation process which provides rapid global optimisation even for complex processes and the use of data synthesis to achieve faster and more accurate model training. This novel technological approach will be integrated into a lean six-sigma framework for rapid adoption by practitioners within the aforementioned industries. The algorithms will be implemented in a software platform for ease of use and integration with other quality and enterprise software tools. The effectiveness of the toolkit will be demonstrated trough two use cases in PCB manufacture and vacuum coatings, providing the two advanced manufacturing industry companies with direct gains in process performance.

An innovative new device for building management solutions; built using internet protocol (IPV6) from end-to-end, ensuring security, interoperability and high extensibility. The device will use data models and standards defined by the open connectivity foundation (OCF), ensuring that vendor lock in via closed protocols will become a thing of the past. Currently, Building Management Systems (BMS) are predominantly plant-room based hardware controls that necessitate manual interaction. This means that when scheduled or unscheduled maintenance is required, an engineer has to be physically present to fix the problem. As during the pandemic, when a building is unused for a period of time - normal services operation leads to unnecessary levels of energy consumption. Combined with this primary inefficiency, any overall deterioration in building performance goes unnoticed. This leads to further negative impacts on both energy usage, environmental impact and the bottom line. Pulse Systems have designed an innovative new product that makes these obstacles a thing of the past. With this technology, BMS are simply uploaded to the Cloud -- meaning that they can be operated remotely. This gives building managers the power to see everything going on in their building, giving them control over everything from hardware malfunctions to a forgotten light switch. Cloud BMS removes the need for many physical maintenance visits, which in the context of a post-pandemic society can be difficult, dangerous and financially detrimental. The device will be built using internet protocol (IPV6) from end-to-end, with data models and standards defined by the Open Connectivity Foundation, ensuring the highest level of interoperability and security for our clients. In addition, the change from closed to open protocols translates to improved transparency and agency -- the customer can choose to share their data but this is completely at their discretion. Functions for this capability include being able to see exactly how and where energy is being wasted and share that with the users of the building or energy providers. This provides obvious financial benefits and promotes sustainability. In the current climate, environmental consciousness is key. Pulse strives for carbon neutrality in its own business, and our product encourages and enables our clients to reach for this goal. With a product that allows the energy performance of a building to be accessed and altered from anywhere, clients are empowered to make the most responsible energy choices for them and for their community. In short, all of this translates to a product that has low installation costs, low maintenance and update costs and that will integrate well with both current and future systems.