Which sustainable industrial developments remain to having shaped and changed our work in industry and production? If we look back, experience has shown that it is neither possible to develop fully automated factories nor to conserve all human knowledge by means of huge databases. These formerly trendsetting ideas are now outdated. But what we have learned from the failure of these ideas is a useful concept of the so-called HOT approach: First Human, Second Organization and Third Technology. This way, human knowledge and potential in combination with adequate organization can lead to technical innovation. At present, the challenge is to transfer this concept to recent and future ideas, such as the fully automated car or the change to the use of renewable energy sources. Thus, it should be taken into account that technical innovation must always include human and organizational aspects to be truly sustainable.
