Over 150 guests attended the festive gala, which marked the end of the 2018 anniversary year and was all about automation: the big names in the automation industry were enchanted by futuristic LED artists and a sand painter who outlined the stages of the industrial revolution and the history of the specialist medium, and were treated to a robot bartender.

These are the twelve award winners and the categories at a glance:
Bosch Rexroth AG Steuerungen
Eplan Software & Service GmbH & Co KG E-CAD
Hans Turck GmbH & Co. KG Industrial Identification
HARTING Technologiegruppe & Co. KG Industrial connectors
Igus GmbH Energy chain systems
Maxon Motor AG Small motors
Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH Sensors
Pilz GmbH & Co. KG Safety
Profibus Nutzerorganistion e.V. Industrial Communication
Schneider Electric GmbH Networking
Schunk GmbH & Co. KG Gripping Technology & Handling
U.I. Lapp GmbH Cables & Wires

These are the twelve milestones of automation:
- Eplan receives the milestone of automation for E-CAD, because the company's pioneering work enables the consistent digitalization of all processes and data from engineering and production to operation and maintenance, which is the basic prerequisite for Industry 4.0.
- Igus is honored in the Energy Chain Systems category because the company set new standards with the first plastic e-chain and continues to do so today with its customer proximity and innovative leap with the intelligent Smart Plastics e-chain.
- Schunk receives the milestone in automation for gripping technology & handling, as the company developed the first standardized industrial gripper as early as 1983 with the "industrial hand" and still gives gripping technology even more dexterity today with artificial intelligence and the like.
- The Industrial Identification category goes to Turck. With innovations such as the use of RFID in industrial processes, the company ensures that the complexity in industrial plants remains manageable. Turck's UHF family thus enables smart production.
- Lapp receives the milestone for Cables & Wires, because the development of the first industrially manufactured, oil-resistant and flexible control cable from Lapp significantly simplified cabling. Today, eight of the company's brands provide connections in the industrial world - including data cables.
- Maxon Motor is honored in the small motors category because the heart of the Swiss drive specialist's DC motors is an ironless rotor with a diamond-shaped winding. Today, the broad Maxon portfolio - from DC motors to motion controllers and sensors - is used in unique applications such as the Mars Rover.
- The award for Industrial Communication goes to PI - Profibus & Profinet International, which laid the foundation for Industry 4.0 applications through its international standardization and certification system. Today, over 100 million components worldwide are equipped with PI technologies.
- Harting receives the milestone for industrial connectors, as the company set standards immediately after the end of the war with the idea of a special, versatile rectangular connector. The Han connector, which was later patented, soon became the standard - and Connectivity is still the cornerstone of the company today.
- Pilz receives the award in the Safety category, as the company has been ensuring greater safety in industrial operations for decades, including with the first emergency stop switching device and, to this day, with many safety applications for safe HRC.
- The milestone for sensor technology goes to Pepperl+Fuchs. Over 60 years ago, the company developed the inductive proximity switch, which became the globally recognized industry standard for contactless switching. But it didn't stop there - the company continues to adapt its successful product to changing technologies to this day.
- Bosch Rexroth is honored with the milestone in automation for control systems. For over 50 years, the company has been developing intelligent control technology, which is indispensable for the orientation of today's market towards Industry 4.0. Bosch continues to influence the control technology market today, for example with Open Core Engineering.
- Schneider Electric receives the milestone in automation for networking, as the company developed a forerunner of the Industrial Internet of Things in the 1990s - the Transparent Factory. This was initially met with rejection, but eventually caught on - making the company the grandfather of the IoT, according to Schneider.
Throughout the anniversary year 2018 and into spring 2019, the specialist medium "elektrotechnik" presented a milestone partner in detail every month, taking an in-depth look at their history, innovations and work. A final print compendium summarizes all the milestones in automation once again and will be published in spring 2019.

"elektrotechnik AUTOMATISIERUNG" reports on the entire automation technology value chain and the web portal www.elektrotechnik.de provides daily updates on industry trends, new products and technical applications in automation. The parent company Vogel Communications Group is one of the leading service providers for B2B communication in the German-speaking world. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. With four agencies in Berlin, the Group offers comprehensive communications expertise. The Group's services range from specialist media, corporate publishing, social media services, PR, trade fair services, networks and communities to market intelligence & insights and an in-house congress center.