Top 7 ERP Trends in 2022 — Part 2

Also Read: Top 7 ERP Trends in 2022 — Part 1

4. Hyper-automation and immersive workflow

The advent of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the late 2000s brought a dramatic change in the way enterprises handled unstructured data. This change facilitated a broad spectrum of automated processes thanks to rule-based automation. Since then, automation has been rising rapidly and is helping businesses eliminate errors and churn out unrequired workforce. Today, we are progressing towards hyper-automation, the latest generation of automotive tools that help replicate human actions across a diverse range of workflows throughout each business department. The primary difference between RPA and hyper-automation is that while the former can only manage unstructured data at the surface level, the latter can analyze and find deeper insights across a vast web of unstructured data. 

The importance of hyper-automation stems from the fact that unstructured data constitutes 85% of the data that enterprises need. Moreover, this data is growing exponentially at the rate of 55-65% a year. 

Sources of unstructured data include scanned PDF documents, emails, tweets & social media posts, handwritten manuscripts, heterogeneous forms, etc. This type of content is not specific to a particular industry and requires interconnected data processes to find valuable insights. 

The benefits of hyper-automation include:

• Optimize workflow by ensuring manual and repetitive tasks are completed faster in a short duration.
• Maximize agility by providing rich insights that facilitate better decision-making.
• Gain efficiency by automating several business processes. 
• Minimize technical expertise required for configuration by using high-end automated solutions.
• Eliminate human errors, enhance customer experience, and manufacture the best quality products with faster time to market by employing intelligent tools and applications.

Cut operational costs by automating tasks using digital technologies instead of manual intervention.

5. Intelligent Autonomous Things 

Intelligent Autonomous Things (IAT) will revolutionize ERP software forever. IAT are devices that function autonomously with little or no help from humans, thanks to AI algorithms. These devices include drones, vehicles, robots, automation software, and autonomous intelligent home devices. They have built-in sensors that make data-based decisions and finish tasks autonomously. 3 reasons why Gartner says that Intelligent Autonomous Things will make a significant impact in the coming years are:

• The cost of sensors (for example, position, humidity, force, pressure, and temperature sensors) is falling sharply. 
• Software and AI hardware, proponents of autonomy, are becoming better each day.
• Technology that substantially impacts the physical world is more critical than technology impacting the digital world. 

Moreover, the sharp decrease in the cost of sensors and the improvements in software and AI hardware results in enormous amounts of data, which acts as a feedback cycle for autonomous things. 

Experts suggest that the role of IAT devices is going to increase substantially in 2022 and beyond based on the following use cases:

1. Vehicle Platooning: Platooning refers to a group of vehicles, especially trucks, covering long distances at high speed, safely and efficiently. Each truck communicates with the other, adapting its speed and motion trajectory.

2. Military drones: Autonomous military drones can gather war-sensitive data that enables making tactical decisions on the battlefield. Drones can also launch weapons and carry out strikes from hidden locations and provide an upper edge in the fight. 

3. Autonomous shops: Companies like Amazon Go are replacing traditional check-out kiosks and cashiers. Instead, they are enabling customers to purchase products through self-checkout systems. 

4. On-demand healthcare: Companies like Swoop Aero deliver essential medical supplies to patients via drones. Their primary objective is to transfer medicines to those places where reaching through roads isn’t possible, safe, or sustainable.