5. Decision support and operating interface

Automation enables us to comply with given functions or objectives. Many tools and applications are effective. However, building control algorithms and solving measurement problems are not enough. These automation functions are integrated, as shown in figure 1 , into a set of functions supported by IT tools. Industrial IT cannot be dissociated from automation. In the food industry, the combination of these functions is essential. There are two main reasons for this.

On the one hand, processes combine operations of various kinds, as defined in the analysis presented in Table