Different situations require different methods and equipment.
A second goal of data automation is to avoid having to re-enter data to perform a different task with it. For example, the old style cash register would add up your purchase and calculate the tax. With modern data automation, using bar codes on every item in the store, a computer check-out register along with a bar code scanner will calculate the sale plus transfer the information directly to the computer that does the store bookkeeping plus adjust the inventory records by subtracting the items just sold. The human errors possible at each step of data entry are now avoided. Of course, there are still ways for errors to occur, just not as many.