Is Detroit the Next Hotbed for Office Ready Robots™?

The copier hum has long been part of Detroit’s offices. Dealers across Southeast Michigan kept that hum alive, sending techs through snowstorms, fixing misfeeds, and keeping fleets running. Reliable work that built long-standing trust. But the market is shifting. Global copier demand is steady but not expanding quickly. Transparency Market Research projects the copier market to grow at roughly 3.9 percent annually through 2031 to about 19.7 billion dollars. Dealers are searching for the next engine of recurring revenue as print volumes flatten.

Office Ready Robots™ from companies like Quasi are not industrial arms on auto lines. They are mobile machines tuned for everyday environments: offices, hospitals, campuses, distribution centers. They roll with cameras and sensors, carrying mail, escorting visitors, and running supplies. They need leasing, service, and updates, the very skills Detroit’s copier channel already delivers.

Detroit’s economy is in transition. The city has reinvented itself around advanced manufacturing, health care, and mobility technology. Downtown leasing has improved in 2024, with JLL reporting net positive absorption in Class A properties and declining vacancy in the CBD. Cushman and Wakefield’s Q2 2025 MarketBeat shows Detroit office vacancy at 20.3 percent, down from earlier highs. On the industrial side, CBRE ranks Detroit among the Midwest’s leading warehouse and light manufacturing hubs, with leasing driven by automotive suppliers, EV battery plants, and logistics. In 2024, Colliers reported metro Detroit industrial vacancy at 4.4 percent with over 9 million square feet under construction.

This creates two clear lanes for robots. Offices reinvesting in space can deploy AMRs for front-of-house and back-office tasks. Warehouses and light manufacturing plants already adopting automation can extend it with dealer-supported Office Ready Robots.

For dealers like, @Elite Imaging Systems, @Burwood Business Machines, and @American Office Solutions the fit is natural. Trucks are already rolling. Leasing partners are in place. Service DNA is strong. Robots simply extend the playbook. Quasi’s AMRs can be leased and serviced like copiers, bundled with training and updates. CricketsUS connects OEMs to these dealers and equips them to sell and support robotics in the same way they have supported print for decades.

Detroit knows reinvention. From cars to tech, from bankruptcy to growth, the city has adapted. Dealers who bring Office Ready Robots into their portfolio show the same adaptability. The copier channel moved from copiers to MFPs to managed IT. Robotics is the next step. It delivers tangible value, keeps service techs relevant, and grows leasing streams at a time when traditional office hardware slows.

The copier hum is fading in Detroit, but the roll of robots is starting to be heard. For dealers, the choice is clear: extend existing skills into robotics or watch the opportunity pass by. CricketsUS is ready to connect the channel with OEMs. Detroit is positioned for this shift, and the time to act is now.

-Celeste