Panoramic 27.6

Don’t settle for second best

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ENGINE 75 LIFT HEIGHT LIFT CAPACITY 5.9 2.7

The Ultra Compact P27.6 has been developed as a high performance, compact telehandler. Measuring 1.86 m wide and 1.96 m high, this telescopic handler offers unparalleled manoeuvrability and accessibility, lifting up to 2,700 kg and reaching a lift height of 5.9 meters. Find your local Merlo Dealer to find out more on merlo.co.uk.

SMART CITIES, DIGITAL TWINS, AND THE METAVERSE

When we consider smart technology, it’s easy to think of it as just for your phone, watch, or maybe even some household appliances. Utilising digital twins to create smart cities is nothing new. Singapore and cities, including Newcastle in the UK and Phoenix, Arizona, have been making the most of digital twins, using virtual models to gain a competitive edge. As digital twins replicate buildings, their systems, and operations, a federation of connected digital twin models can be created that transcends sectors. Everything that comprises a city—transport, pavement, building, energy, water, and telecommunications—can be monitored within the digital twin. The tech can anticipate problems, simulate scenarios, and make decisions with remarkable foresight. City planners, construction stakeholders, and operation and asset managers can use these insights to improve energy consumption, environmental conditions, public safety, and waste management to security monitoring, mobility improvements, and infrastructure management. However, the tech’s potential for helping construction move to the metaverse is a relatively new phenomenon set to gain even more momentum next year. Digital twins will be used to create this new space—combining physical architecture, hyper-connected technologies, and AI. The project states one of the core features includes a “dynamic digital twin,” which will be a mixed-reality twin with “live cognitive virtual twins.” The goal is to allow future residents to experience how life will operate at this “crossroads of worlds.”

New Business Models Are Emerging

Digitisation has unlocked a wealth of new business models, such as fuel optimisation, uptime contracts and equipment tracking software, as well as new players. For example, online equipment rental marketplaces, specialising in one product and service, are on the rise. Firms are relying on open innovation models. They’re turning to their suppliers, customers, and competitors to identify new opportunities and technologies, rather than operating in the traditional closed model. By focusing on innovation and looking outside the box for solutions, many firms will businesses imaginative solutions to ages-old problems. n