The euphoria surrounding Industry 4.0 strategies is now being followed by an analytical approach and sustainable standards. Among other things, this is thanks to the inherently digital area of quality assurance. From being a wallflower, it has become a central cross-sectional function in manufacturing and assembly companies. At this year's Control - International Trade Fair for Quality Assurance, it is also evident that productivity and efficiency are essentially based on effective and consistent quality assurance. And this applies from the receipt of goods to the delivery of a product.

Today, manufacturing processes are controlled less by economic key figures and more by QA data. With finer and more meaningful data evaluations, an economical product with reproducible quality is created despite batch sizes of one in both single and repeat orders.

More than 900 exhibitors from more than 30 countries

In this respect, industrial quality assurance is a forerunner of Industry 4.0, which is also reflected in the Control product and service portfolio. At the 32nd edition of the world's leading trade fair, well over 900 exhibitors from more than 30 countries will gather at the Stuttgart Exhibition Center. The portfolio includes tried-and-tested mechanical and mechatronic measuring and testing equipment, supplemented by electronic CNC-controlled coordinate measuring systems and automated analysis equipment. Over the years, 3D measurement technology based on optics and optoelectronics has been added. Recently, industrial image processing and vision systems have been trending, as they can be easily integrated into I 4.0 processes. These are developing at a rapid pace, meaning that the corresponding components and assemblies as well as complete systems are taking up more space than ever in Stuttgart.

Only consistently networked processes and workflows can be reliably operated in a fully automated manner, i.e. controlled, monitored and adapted to the situation or requirements. The timely optimization of production processes can only be as good as the knowledge- and technology-based evaluation, interpretation and reprogramming of processes and sequences. In this respect, the products, assemblies, subsystems and complete systems presented at Control are clearly among the pioneers as hardware and software solutions for industrial quality assurance. The digitalization of all process functions in production and assembly, as well as the accompanying intralogistics processes in particular, must be seen as an essential prerequisite for realizing the factory of the future. as