The automation pyramid visualizes the communication of IT systems within different levels in industrial manufacturing. Today’s display is a further development from the automation technology of the 1970s. It is clearly and hierarchically divided, but the number of levels and their naming is not clearly defined.
Each level has its system and processes or tasks and is used to control and monitor production. The cross-level observation and control is achieved via defined interfaces. New technologies and Industry 4.0 approaches now make it possible, for example via cloud systems, for process sections to be outsourced. IIoT supports data exchange between all levels. Thus, the pyramid will continue to transform, to the point of changing shape.
