1. Motivation: Why This Book

Cobbler, stick to your last’ is an old saying that holds a lot of truth. This also applies to Industry 4.0 ‘Made in China’ 2025, IoT (IIoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) – all of which are buzzwords of the modern age and have been turned into hype by politicians and industry. However, Industry 4.0, China 2025, IoT and AI only embody what had already evolved over many years in the history of automation and technology. The aim of this book is to provide an insight of automation technology over the last 50 years and to counteract the hype that politicians are making of these topics today. It attempts to give the reader a comprehensive overview of automation technology so that he understands how to classify and communicate the facts correctly. It should make him an expert, who can participate factually and profoundly in discussions on this topic. However, I am particularly interested in contributing my more than 40 years of experience in the field of automation as well as in deepening the current events with many examples I have experienced myself.