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Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Is Atlanta the Next Hotbed for Office Ready Robots™?

HotLanta

The copier hum has been Atlanta’s office soundtrack for decades. Dealers like EDGE Business Systems earned trust by keeping that hum alive, dispatching techs, swapping drums, fixing misfeeds. Reliable, repeatable work. But the market is shifting. Copier and printer demand is stabilizing rather than shrinking in many mature markets. Globally, the copier category is projected to grow at roughly 3.9 percent annually through 2031 to about 19.7 billion dollars, according to Transparency Market Research. Dealers are still looking for new revenue streams as page volumes shift and refresh cycles lengthen.

Office Ready Robots™ built by companies like Quasi are not factory arms or warehouse rigs. They are mobile machines tuned for offices, lobbies, hospitals, and campuses. These robots fit into the same service and leasing model that copier dealers already run. They roam with cameras and sensors, carry supplies, escort guests, and handle routine runs. Like copiers, they require parts, service, consumables, and updates, capabilities Atlanta dealers already provide.

Atlanta’s scale makes it a prime market. The city is home to more than a dozen Fortune 500 headquarters, the world’s busiest airport, and a strong technology sector. Labor costs continue to climb, and staffing roles such as reception and internal delivery are increasingly difficult to fill. Robots don’t replace entire teams, but they give hours back and reduce overtime costs. The pandemic underscored how fragile staffing models can be. Hybrid work left many offices partly filled and changed expectations of what a workplace should deliver. Robots provide one practical answer.

Recent market data adds weight to this case. Cushman and Wakefield reports that Atlanta office vacancy declined by sixty basis points quarter over quarter to 24.8 percent in Q2 2025, the second straight quarterly drop. Partners Real Estate tallied positive Class A net absorption of 412,064 square feet in Q4 and 834,774 square feet for 2024. On the industrial side, Lee and Associates recorded 43.4 million square feet of leasing and 12.76 million square feet of net absorption in 2024, even as vacancy edged up with new deliveries. CBRE highlights that Atlanta continues to rank among North America’s top big-box warehouse markets, with sustained demand from logistics and e-commerce tenants.

For Office Ready Robots, this means opportunity across two fronts: front office environments where businesses are reinvesting in space, and warehouses or light manufacturing floors where AMRs are already proving their value.

For EDGE, Milner, and Novatech’s Atlanta operations, and others, robots represent the next product line. Managed IT and other services have helped fill gaps, but recurring revenue still depends on hardware that requires service. Robots align naturally with that model. Quasi’s autonomous mobile robots can be leased like copiers, bundled with service, training, and updates. Dealers maintain the client relationship while OEMs supply the hardware. CricketsUS builds the bridge between them.

When Xerox entered Atlanta in the 1960s, businesses needed to see a demo to understand the value. Robots are similar. A unit rolling into a meeting with a tray of documents or guiding a visitor through a lobby shows the utility in real time. Dealers that lead with demonstrations will shape customer perception and open new opportunities.

Quasi designs its robots for office use. They fit elevators, move through standard doorways, and carry loads relevant to business operations such as mail, toner, or catering trays. Interfaces are straightforward, allowing office staff to operate them without extensive training. When maintenance is needed, a dealer technician can service the unit. The copier service model translates directly.

Atlanta is known for its ability to adapt quickly, blending long-standing business culture with new technology. Dealers who bring Office Ready Robots to their clients demonstrate that adaptability. The copier channel has moved through multiple transitions, from copiers to MFPs, then to managed print and IT services. Robotics is the next step. They provide tangible value, keep service teams relevant, and grow leasing opportunities at a time when traditional office hardware is harder to sell.

The copier hum may be fading, but Atlanta’s offices aren’t going silent. Robots are beginning to roll into the workspace, carrying out tasks and proving their place. For dealers, the choice is straightforward: extend existing skills into robotics or watch others capture the opportunity. CricketsUS is here to connect dealers with OEMs and bring Office Ready Robots into the channel. Atlanta is prepared for that shift, and the time to act is now.

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Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
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