The pace of digital transformation continues — even in the face of economic headwinds — partly because of labor shortages everywhere.
“We simply cannot cut new investments into automation and operating efficiency because of rates and inflation. More automation creates less reliance on labor we can’t find. So, investing in automation is essential to our success,” a machine tool manufacturing company owner recently told Monitor and Secured Research.
To help you target your efforts, here are the industries making moves right now. In a recent survey by Secured Research of more than 5,000 small businesses, the top five industries making technology investments in the next 60 days were:
- Healthcare (19%)
- Most procedures are not more affordable to bring in-house for private practices because of advancements in technology and costs of new innovations coming down. Practices need to keep those revenues in-house and invest in new procedure technologies affordably.
- Manufacturing (18%)
- As illustrated in the quote above, manufacturers must invest in automation technologies to drive lower labor costs among an increasingly small labor force.
- Transportation (11%)
- Telematics is changing the game for small to mid-size fleets, which must invest in these technologies to remain competitive with the “big dogs” even as headwinds mount.
- Restaurants (10%)
- The “to-go” boom has been a powerful surge to restaurant businesses. As such, investments in remote ordering technologies and new point-of-sale solutions have been and will remain critical to capture the opportunity.
- Education (9%)
- Private education is growing quickly and everything from day care centers to faith-based primary schools need improved technologies to compete for increasing demand.
If you’re not going after technology-related investments as a broker, you are missing a once-in-a-generation shift in capex mindset.
