3. Automation and Quality Control in Industry 4.0

After we have already looked at some of the contexts for the new hype Industry 4.0, ‘Made in China 2025’, IoT and the world of automation a little more closely in Chaps. 1 and 2, we will delve into the development of automation in recent decades in Chap. 3. Specifically, we deal with quality control, which is relevant to the topic of Industry 4.0, ‘Made in China 2025’ and IoT (IIoT- Industrial Internet of Things) in terms of automation. In this context, due to the complexity analytical measurement technology was and is usually the last link in the automation chain of a factory, which has taken the step from the laboratory to the running production line. Due to physical and chemical boundary conditions, it will be shown which parameters of the transition of measurement technology from the laboratory to the field have had a decisive influence on progress and are still decisive: EMC, CE, radio approvals, IP protection types, explosion protection and SIL (Safety Integrity Level) required enormous development efforts in order to develop automation technology components for tough use in the factory or in the process. The chronological introduction of analytical measurement technology in relation to physical parameters is shown very clearly. A complexity pyramid of automation from the laboratory to the process with regard to applied industry-specific technologies represents the different degrees of difficulty of introducing products into inline and online production.