Smart Routing: How Intelligent Workflows Make Decisions 10× Faster than People

Smart Routing as the Answer to Decision Fatigue and Manual Process Friction

Product manager Lisa sits in front of her screen and takes a look at the 47th new product of the day. “Does it need CE marking? Does this have to be translated? Which release process is the right one?”

She is tired. It’s 16:47 and making decisions has become more difficult. If it still were product nr. 12 of the day, her decision might have looked different.

What Lisa is experiencing here is not personal failure, but a well-studied phenomenon: decision fatigue. And this costs companies time, money, and consistency daily.

The good news is: Modern workflow systems can completely take care of such routine decisions for you. Faster, more consistent, and without ever growing tired.

 

The Problem of Invisible Time Eaters

A typical day in product management:

• 50+ new products to be classified
• An average of 8 minutes is required to make a decision per product
• This equals 6,5 hours of pure decision-making work
• There is barely any time left for strategic tasks

And this only factors in the measurable time. The hidden costs are even greater:

Inconsistency: Decisions are not constant. On Mondays, they are stricter than on Fridays. Decisions after vacation differ from those before.

Knowledge Loss: What happens when Lisa catches the flu? Or leaves the company? If one person is missing, all orientation is suddenly lost.

Missing Scaling: Twice as many products means twice as many decisions and twice as much work for Lisa. Linear. Not scalable.

 

The Solutions: Smart Workflows, that Think for Themselves

Imagine your workflow could make decisions automatically:

• Default product → express release in 2 days
• New product assortment → comprehensive review with all stakeholders
• Compliance-critical → extended analysis with the legal team

And that it could do so in 0.3 seconds rather than 8 minutes.

This is referred to as smart routing – and it is based on clear business rules defined by the user itself.

 

How Smart Routing Works (without Tech Jargon)

Principle 1: Foundation for Automation

The main principle is simple: The workflow analyzes existing product data and decides on its own which process is most appropriate.

An example from e-commerce: When a new product is created, the system checks automatically if it is a default product. If this is indeed the case, the express workflow is activated. If not, then an extended examination is triggered.

To this end, the system does not need to resort to magic, but only the following three things: clearly defined rules (e.g., known product families plus known suppliers), access to relevant product data, and cleanly defined workflow paths.

The result is measurable: In practice, roughly 67 percent of products automatically go down the faster path – without any manual intervention whatsoever.

 

Principle 2: Processes Run in Parallel, Not Sequentially

Classic processes work step by step. First A, then B, and lastly C. Smart routing thinks parallelly.

A product is to be sold in the EU and the US at the same time. Instead of processing the two examinations one after the other, the system automatically launches multiple processes at the same time: CE marking for EU, FCC approval for the US, as well as the required translations for both markets.

The effect is enormous. Six weeks of runtime turn into two. And all that without additional personnel.

 

Principle 3: Automatic Escalation Prevents Delays

An intelligent workflow does not wait passively. It reacts.

If no supplier data comes in, for example, the system identifies it accordingly. When delivery is delayed, the purchase team is informed automatically after the defined period is exceeded. In case of exceptions, the product manager can manually intervene at any given time to adjust the processes as necessary.

The result: No pending workflows and no forgotten leftover tasks. The system makes short work even of delays.

 

Principle 4: AI-Assisted Decisions

When it comes to complex decisions, artificial intelligence can lend support.

Let’s have a look at a practical example of the process of product categorization: When a new product is imported into the system, the AI analyzes title, description, price, category, and similar products from the past. On this basis, it can make a probability assessment to select the right workflow.

If the certainty meets the 90-percent threshold, the product automatically enters into the express workflow. If it ranges between 70 to 90, a short check by the product manager is sufficient. As part of this, a complete manual classification will be carried out.

The punchline: The system learns as it goes. In real scenarios, the success rate increases significantly within a few months – from an initial 73 percent to about 89 percent of correct decisions.

 

 

The Hidden Benefits (which are Even More Important than the Speed)

1. Consistency instead of Intuition

Before: Lisa makes decisions varying based on the day of the week, workload, and whim.

After: The system always applies the same criteria. Product nr. 1 is processed the same way as product nr. 500.

Measurable: 94% less process variations because of human factors.

2. Complete Documentation

Before: “Why was this product edited this way?” – Nobody knows anymore.

After: Every decision is well-archived:

• What rules were applied?
• When was the decision made?
• What data records were decisive?

The compliance advantage: Perfect for ISO audits and quality certification.

3. Scaling without Personnel Costs

Before: More products = more decisions = more personnel.

After: Smart routing costs the same, be it 100 or 10,000 products daily.

ROI impact: Corporate growth without proportionally increasing costs.

4. Continuous Improvement through Data

Before: “Are our processes optimal?” – Gut feeling discussions.

After: Concrete data shows the potential for potential:

• “23% of express workflows still need further manual examination”
• “Products by supplier X have a 40% error rate”
• “A/B testing: routing strategy B is 15% faster”

 

The Business Case: What does this Really Achieve?

Realistic numbers from an SME company (500 products/month):

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• Annual ROI: 49,140€ savings
• Implementation Effort: 2-3 weeks (including testing and optimization)
• Breakeven: After circa 2 months

 

This is How You Convince Your Team (the Human Side)

The biggest obstacle is not technology – it’s acceptance. Common worries revolve around loss of job, error-proneness, or concern specific processes. Let’s have a closer look at the three most popular worries and whether they are justified:

“The system steals my job”

The reality: Smart routing takes care of boring routine decisions. Product management earns valuable time for:

• Strategic product planning
• Supplier relations
• Complex edge cases
• Innovation instead of administration

“What if the system makes an error?”

The reality:

• All rules are transparent and traceable
• You define the criteria yourself
• Exceptions can be oversteered at any given time
• Regular reviews for optimization

“Our processes are far too specific for automation”

The reality:

• Start with the 80% default cases
• The 20% edge cases stay manual
• Regardless, you earn 80% of the available time savings immediately
• Possibility to expand step by step

 

 

Quick Start: Your First Smart Gateway in 2 Weeks

Step-by-step without tech knowhow: Making a start in smart routing is simpler than many would expect. In four clear steps, the first smart gateway can go into production within about two weeks.

Step 1: Identify (1 Day)

At the beginning stands a simple question: Which routine decisions cost the most time in today’s workday? Typical examples are questions about whether a product must be translated, which release process is the right one, or if a compliance examination is required. What is decisive is that you can make a clean decision in at least 80 percent of the cases.

Step 2: Define Rules (2–3 Days)

In the next step, formulate the decision criteria in plain words intuitive to everyone. When it comes to the topic of translation, for example, a rule could look as follows: A translation is required if the product category is “consumer” and the price is more than 50€; in all other cases, no translation is required. In a joint workshop, edge cases are discussed so that the rules can be refined together.

Step 3: Create Workflow (3–4 Days)

Now the workflow is to be technically implemented – together with the internal PIM team or support by ATAMYA. The smart gateway is set up, the defined rules implemented, and everything is applied to test data. Subsequently, targeted fine tuning can follow.

Step 4: Testing & Go-Live (1 Week)

Before the go-live, the system runs in the so-called shadow mode parallel to the existing process. The team compares results, gives feedback, and makes final adjustments. After the launch, monitoring for transparency and daily reviews lend additional support in the first week for a clean start.

The result: 200+ automatic decisions per month, 3–5 hours/week time savings per person, and 100% consistency.

 

Applied Example: SME Electronics Store

Starting Point:
A SME electronics store faces the challenge to classify around 350 new products on a monthly basis. Two product managers were almost fully occupied with this task. The lead time was 8 to 12 days and, at the same time, the rate of miscategorizations was high.

• 350 new products per month
• 2 product managers for classification
• lead time of 8–12 days
• high categorization error rate

Implementation:
To relieve the processes, smart routing was implemented with three clearly defined main rules.

1. Product-type-based workflow selection
2. Automatic compliance check based on merchandise value
3. Parallelization of translation and datasheet generation

Results After Three Months:
After a short time, the positive effects were already visible.

• Lead time: reduced from 8–12 days to 2–4 days
• Product manager time: 50 percent more time for strategy
• Error rate: lowered from 15 percent to 2 percent
• ROI: 4.2× in 12 months
• Scaling: 40 percent more products without additional personnel

The product managers report that smart routing has finally enabled them to invest their time in strategic tasks. Instead of repetitive decision work, they can now concentrate on supplier relations, product innovations, and market analysis. The system takes care of the routine classification in a more reliable and consistent manner than it would have ever been possible manually.

 

What’s Next?

In the next and last article of our series, we will look into the future: autonomous product management. Imagine your workflow system does not only make decisions but continuously optimizes itself – learns from mistakes, recognizes patterns, and adjusts processes automatically without you having to manually intervene.

By the end of 2026, product managers will start their day differently: Instead of 47 products waiting for manual approval, they will find a report of 47 products that are already live. The system has analyzed, categorized, translated, validated, and optimized them over night. Fully automated.

Sounds like science fiction? The technology is already here. In the next article, we show you the 5 autonomy levels of product management – and how you can prepare your company for the future step by step.

Which routine decisions cost the most time in your product processes? Let’s evaluate together which smart gateway grants you the most additional value.