diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 7713a33..3315a3c 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ updates:
   schedule:
     interval: weekly
     time: "04:00"
+  target-branch: "develop"
   open-pull-requests-limit: 10
diff --git a/.github/workflows/version.yml b/.github/workflows/version.yml
index d4df3d3..a56ceed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version.yml
@@ -1,102 +1,21 @@
-name: Version handling
-
+name: Release Process
 on:
+  push:
+    branches: ['release/**', 'release-*']
   pull_request:
-    types:
-      - closed
-    branches:
-      - master
+    types: [closed]
+    branches: [master]
 
 jobs:
-  version-update:
-    # This version does not run on self-opened PRs
-    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.user.login != 'github-actions[bot]' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout source code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      # Sets up Java version
-      - name: Set up Java
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
-        with:
-          distribution: 'adopt'
-          java-package: jdk
-          java-version: '8'
-      # Semantic versioning
-      - name: Semantic versioning
-        id: versioning
-        uses: paulhatch/semantic-version@v5.4.0
-        with:
-          tag_prefix: ""
-        # A string which, if present in a git commit, indicates that a change represents a
-        # major (breaking) change, supports regular expressions wrapped with '/'
-          major_pattern: "(MAJOR)"
-        # Same as above except indicating a minor change, supports regular expressions wrapped with '/'
-          minor_pattern: "(MINOR)"
-        # A string to determine the format of the version output
-          version_format: "${major}.${minor}.${patch}"
-      # Check, whether there is an existing branch "version_<version>" or an open PR "version_<version>" -> "master"
-      # and store the results as environment variables
-      - name: Check if branch and PR exist
-        # The second command was copied from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/73812503/github-action-stop-the-action-if-pr-already-exists
-        run: |
-          echo VERSION_BRANCH_EXISTS=$(git ls-remote --heads origin refs/heads/version_${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }} | wc -l) >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo PR_EXISTS=$(gh pr list \
-            --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
-            --json baseRefName,headRefName \
-            --jq '
-              map(select(.baseRefName == "master" and .headRefName == "version_${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}"))
-              | length
-            ') >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        # If the branch "version_<version>" does not exist, create the branch and update the version in all files
-      - name: Create branch and update PathExpression version
-        if:  ${{ env.VERSION_BRANCH_EXISTS == '0' }}
-        run: |
-          git config --global user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git checkout -b version_${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}
-          mvn build-helper:parse-version versions:set -DnewVersion=\${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }} versions:commit
-          git ls-files | grep 'pom.xml$' | xargs git add
-          git commit --allow-empty -am "Update PathExpression version to ${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}"
-          git push origin version_${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}
-      # If a PR "version_<version>" -> "master" does not exist, create the PR
-      - name: Open pull request for version update
-        if: ${{ env.PR_EXISTS == '0' }}
-        run: |
-          gh pr create -B master -H version_${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }} -t "Update PathExpression version to ${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}" -b "This PR was created by the version-update workflow. Please make sure to delete the branch after merging, otherwise future workflows might fail."
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-  version-release:
-    # This job runs only on merged PRs, which were opened by the version-update job
-    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merged == true && github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]' }}
+  handle-version:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout source code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      # Semantic versioning
-      - name: Semantic versioning
-        id: versioning
-        uses: paulhatch/semantic-version@v5.4.0
+      - uses: secure-software-engineering/actions/version@develop
         with:
-          tag_prefix: ""
-        # A string which, if present in a git commit, indicates that a change represents a
-        # major (breaking) change, supports regular expressions wrapped with '/'
-          major_pattern: "(MAJOR)"
-        # Same as above except indicating a minor change, supports regular expressions wrapped with '/'
-          minor_pattern: "(MINOR)"
-        # A string to determine the format of the version output
-          version_format: "${major}.${minor}.${patch}"
-      # Create a tag with the newest version to prepare a release
-      - name: Create tag for new version
-        run: |
-          git config --global user.email "${{ github.actor }}@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git config --global user.name "${{ github.actor }}"
-          git tag -a ${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }} -m "PathExpression version ${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}"
-          git push origin ${{ steps.versioning.outputs.version }}
\ No newline at end of file
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          java_version: '11'
+          java_distribution: 'temurin'
+          target_branch: 'master'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/zombie-mode.yml b/.github/workflows/zombie-mode.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0ded12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/zombie-mode.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Zombie Mode
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened]
+    branches: [develop]
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 9 * * MON'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  auto-approve-dependabot:
+    if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: secure-software-engineering/actions/dependabot@develop
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+  zombie-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: secure-software-engineering/actions/zombie-mode@develop
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          base-branch: 'develop'
+          auto-merge-days: '3'
+          version-file: 'pom.xml'
+
+  auto-merge-aged:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: write
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: secure-software-engineering/actions/zombie-mode/zombie-prs-merge@develop
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          age-days: '3'
+          merge-method: 'squash'
+          delete-branch: 'true'
+          zombie-label: 'zombie-mode'
\ No newline at end of file