Many sectors are lagging in coping up with the others in workflow automation

Across industries, workflow automation has become the key to success. An increasing number of companies across diverse sectors are deploying disruptive technologies to better their performance. When repetitive processes are automated, companies can devote more time to the goal that matters, like growing the business and attracting more investments. Unfortunately, workflow automation is not a thing for everyone. Many sectors are lagging in coping up with the others.

Workflow automation refers to the design, execution, and automation of processes based on workflow rules. Human tasks, data, or files are routed between people or systems based on pre-defined business rules. It is used to improve everyday business processes and lets employees concentrate on other important works. It allows teams to spend more time on the actual work itself and less on the processes that support them. In a recent survey titled ‘Bot.Me: A revolutionary partnership’ by PWC, more than 50% of respondents believed AI could better healthcare, financial management, security, and education. However, employing technologies to do the minimum job won’t come under workflow automation. Industries have to make sure that most of the works that consume time and are considered dangerous are going on the automation mode.

Industry Wired has found five major sectors that still fall behind in becoming an automation hub.

Shipping ports

Shipping ports are one of the major sources of transport. The groundwork in port involves shifting goods from one place to another, offloading products from ships, loading them in, lifting heavy weights, etc. These daily works can easily be automated by employing robots. A McKinsey report suggests that port operators are ‘moving more slowly’ when it comes to automation, suggesting this is partly because the promised economic benefits have not matched the realities. The report highlights that many ports have underestimated the challenge of acquiring the need for capabilities, especially in deploying the technology.

Insurance

Insurance is a critical field where money rotates a lot. The insurance sector is constantly hearing about digital marketing, digital distribution, digital IT architecture, digital attackers, and digital technologies such as telematics, automation, and machine learning. However, the adoption rate of the technologies is comparatively low. The insurance sector still feels that it is not time until they should implement workflow automation. They are yet to figure out what success looks like for an insurer in a digital world to embrace workflow automation.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is rapidly diving into adopting futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, robotics, and others for improved productivity and enhanced safety on factory floors. But while manufacturers are enthusiastic about spending on state-of-the-art automation tech for core processes on the factory, wider businesses replete with marketing, finance, HR. They are falling behind in others when it comes to automating the entire workflow.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing processes are often considered lengthy and time-consuming. Implementing workflow automation in the industry involves sending messages, keeping track of statistics, generating reports, etc. Automating the sales and marketing process will leave you more time to focus on overall strategy and fine-tune the parts that need it. Automation can also help sales representatives in closing deals. With the help of tools such as digital signatures, the job can be done in seconds. Marketing teams also get a handful of profit through data collection and analysis.

Law

The legal sector is crucial when it comes to becoming digital. In a recent survey, 35.7% of law firms reported bottlenecks are the biggest workflow challenge they face. However, only 51% of them said that they are adopting workflow automation to tackle critical times. Starting from client onboarding and scheduling to contract generation and billing, there are many opportunities where workflow automation can address the challenges.