Looking at the use of all five application areas, it is noticeable that 'social machines' and 'predictive maintenance' are the most widespread. According to Winfried Holz from Bitkom, this has historical reasons: "The first models for the remote maintenance of machines already existed more than ten years ago. And a relatively early start was also made on equipping machines with displays so that people and machines could communicate with each other. These are preliminary developments that can now be built upon with Industry 4.0. Of course, users are more likely to accept a new technology if they have already had good experiences with similar solutions." Global facilities, on the other hand, are lagging behind, which is also understandable: "Most large industrial companies have a long tradition of having a purchasing department that concludes contracts with suppliers for fixed terms. This naturally leaves little scope for flexible purchasing decisions, such as those that Global Facilities could offer. A change in mentality has to take place first," says Holz.