By Gabriela
Every closed console starts the same way: protection disguised as precision. Copier manufacturers built walls around their panels to guard reliability, security, and brand identity. For years, it worked. Then those same walls slowed progress. Integrations broke. Developers left. Dealers learned to live in translation between machines that refused to speak.
Now the robots are coming. And the question repeats: will we make the same mistake?
We started with the usual;
Print United news, production sales, and who sold what on the show floor.
But somewhere between Ricoh’s Android panels and Sharp’s rebranded Fujis, the talk got real. The old guard is still chasing speed, volume, and print quality while the next generation is talking open standards, autonomous systems, and robots that learn from service logs.
Standards are boring until they save your quarter. Anyone who ever wrestled a mystery driver on a Friday at 4 p.m. knows what I mean. Twain’s name lives on that quiet bridge between an application and a device. Software talks to a driver. The driver talks to the scanner or the MFP. Millions of machines run that way because a volunteer group wrote the rules and kept them current. That same discipline belongs in robotics if the channel is going to scale.
On the webcast, Kevin set the table. A robot is another hardware device. Not 300 dpi and duplex. Different verbs. Raise the mast. Turn left ninety. Pause until the corridor clears. Open a gripper. The application does not need to speak each dialect if a clean specification sits in the middle. Dealers do not want bespoke spaghetti in every account. They want an interface that survives an update. They want to write simple logic once and reuse it.
by Mason Bright
The new hire sits down and stares at a stack of forms. Benefits. Direct deposit. Code of conduct. Policies that matter yet drown people in paperwork. HR teams do what they can. They lose hours anyway. Dealers know this rhythm because they live it with their own reps and techs. So we asked a plain question. What if a robot handled the rote and gave humans back the hard parts.
The pilot is simple. We trained an LLM on a dealer’s HR manual. We loaded it onto a robot we already use for office demos. The bot can move like any AMR. It can also talk. It knows the handbook down to the last line break. A new employee sits with it. The robot answers questions, collects information, and walks the person through an orientation flow. When done, it writes back to the system and logs what it did.
In the webcast, we did not pitch it as a cure-all. It is a force multiplier. It turns three hours into minutes for routine cases. It runs after lunch when HR is pulled into something urgent. It can point a human to anything sensitive or nuanced. It does not fall sick. It does not forget a step. It becomes another member of the office that never needs a calendar hold.
Pages are falling. Everyone in the room knows it.
A3 and A4 still carry most dealer revenue, yet the slope points down. MPS never filled the gap. Managed IT helped some, not all. Water coolers add margin, but not a model. The tail that once followed every copier placement is thinning. So we built Crickets with a simple line that fits in a single breath. We bring robots to the channel and the channel to robots.
Start with what dealers already do well. Prospect. Run site walks. Map workflows. Quote leases. Deliver hardware. Stand it up on the network. Dispatch. Close the loop with a help desk that knows the difference between a ticket and a truck roll. That muscle does not disappear because paper drops. It repoints. AMRs and early humanoids give that muscle a new job.
Art laid it out clean. Dealers need to plan a legacy. If you want your company to matter five and ten years from now, you need a service tail that matches the way you already operate. Robotics offers it. Not a replica of 1986 copier economics. A modern tail. Firmware. Software. Training. Cybersecurity. Recurring support. Revenue that renews because movement never goes out of style.
We are not selling science fiction. We start with carts on wheels that move where you tell them. Tires to bays. Batteries to lifts. Paper files from desk to desk in places that still run paper. On the show floor in November, we run a simple office proof. A robot leaves home base, hits supply, goes to a device, drops a box next to the MFP, heads home. It reports into a small help desk app. Tickets pop as tasks complete. No heroics. Just movement, confirmation, and a repeatable loop.
By Celeste Dame
A quiet experiment inside OpenAi just made every CRM, ERP, and SaaS platform, and those who argue for or against one or another,
irrelevant.
The next revolution belongs to the questions we ask, not the software we buy.
Prolog:
In every industry, the same story plays out. Vendors promise the next platform will fix what the last one broke. But a quiet revolution inside OpenAi has already rendered that cycle meaningless. What began as a tool to study customer tickets has become the clearest proof yet that the age of SaaS is ending. The Research Assistant, developed by OpenAi, shows what happens when every business owner can speak directly to their data. It doesn’t need reports or analysts. It listens, reasons, and answers in real time. All that is required is curiosity.
And it exists today, right now.
The business owner who once waited on consultants and dashboards now simply asks a question and receives insight, instantly. The Research Assistant demonstrates a future where curiosity replaces code and reasoning replaces reporting.
This article was inspired by Ray’s latest podcast, which raises fair concerns about the latest ERPs but misses the larger point. The world no longer needs CRMs, companies like CEO Juice, or the cottage industry of pundits and consultants decoding data that has been machinated by legacy SaaS. The debate over which platform will save us is meaningless. The system itself no longer matters, only the intelligence behind it.
For fifty years, the office technology channel has lived on the same rhythm. Quote. Lease. Deliver. Service. Renew. Every copier in the field carried a tail that fed technicians, back offices, and sales commissions. Dealers built their culture on that cadence. But the math no longer works. Print volumes fall. Leasing cycles stretch. Technicians retire faster than replacements arrive.
At the Post Walters webcast this fall, that reality met its replacement. The conversation that began as a routine check-in became a turning point. It confirmed what a handful of dealers already suspected: the next service tail will not come from pages.
CricketsUS exists to make that future familiar enough to act on. The idea is not to romanticize robots, but to make them ordinary, to make them as practical and serviceable as a copier once was.
It will come from robots.
CricketsUS was built to make that possible. Its mission is simple enough to print on a T-shirt: We bring robots to the channel, and the channel to robots. The idea sounds bold until you realize how similar the mechanics already are. Robots need the same things copiers needed: installation, networking, firmware updates, service contracts, and local technicians who show up. The difference is movement. Instead of paper through rollers, you have payloads on wheels.
By the time most industries notice their decline, the ground has already shifted. The copier channel is lucky. It still has time to steer. At the Post Walters webcast, that steering began in public view.
The conversation pulled together the full spectrum of experience. Art Post and Greg Walters spoke for the bridge-builders. Kevin Frey represented the technical architects. Ed McLaughlin and Chip Miceli carried the institutional memory. The topic was robotics, but the subtext was survival. Could the copier channel, with all its trucks, techs, and tenacity, become the distribution and service backbone for an entirely new class of machines?
CricketsUS exists to answer that question with action. The coalition now represents the most coordinated effort yet to convert copier and IT dealers into robotic resellers, local partners who can sell, lease, install, and service autonomous machines in the same way they once handled MFPs.
By Mason Bright
The numbers do not lie. Print volumes fall each quarter. Managed IT helped but never replaced pages. Water and VoIP filled some gaps. Production print flared, then flattened. Dealers keep diversifying, but the mix still leans 65 percent A3 and A4. Service tails shrink. Technicians age out. Recruiting stalls. The question hangs in every service bay and boardroom: what replaces the copier as the hardware that keeps the channel alive?
CricketsUS exists to answer that question. Our mission fits on a single line: we bring robots to the channel, and the channel to robots.
That means giving copier and IT dealers a bridge into the emerging world of service robotics, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and humanoids that move, learn, and generate recurring service revenue. It also means showing robotic manufacturers how to reach real customers through the field-service networks you already run.
In 2013 I wrote about convergence as a meeting of formerly distinct domains. Now, in 2025, that framing feels quaint. The question has shifted: we no longer approach convergence.
We live it.
That’s when it clicked.
They weren’t buying a copier. They were buying time.
You can dress it up all you want. Feed rates, duplex speed, finishing options, mobile compatibility. None of it matters if the buyer still feels like they’re wasting time. That’s the true cost center.
Here’s the part that’s hard for new reps to swallow. Most of what you’re trained to say—the machine specs, the upgrades, the lease deal—none of that really addresses the real value prop. The C-suite is not looking for a slightly faster warm-up time. They want their operations to move smoother. They want to stop hearing complaints about the printer jamming or the receptionist asking for another toner order.
They want to stop wasting time on things that are not their business.
So the next time you're in front of a buyer, stop selling the box. Sell the time the box gives back.
But we aren't "one people" are we?
The truth is we haven't been for some time now, and there
is really no point in pretending anymore, if there ever was.
We are two very different peoples. We may occupy the same
piece of geography, but that is where the similarities seem to abruptly end.
I convinced myself for a long time that whenever the left called me a racist, a bigot, a sexist, a fascist, a "threat to democracy" for even the most innocent of disagreements, that it was simply hyperbolic rhetoric done for effect.
Why “digital services” won’t save copier OEMs, and what will
Let’s stop whispering: office print is collapsing. When the last tray runs dry, scanning follows, then “document workflows.” Many OEMs are rebranding as “digital service companies,” but that’s a half-measure. Subscriptions don’t replace the fat, predictable annuities of clicks and toner.
The copier hum has long been part of Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Gainesville offices. Dealers across North Florida kept that hum alive, rolling trucks down I‑95 and I‑10, fixing misfeeds, and keeping fleets running. Work that built 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 bolted to factory floors. 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 North Florida’s copier channel already delivers.
The copier hum has long been part of offices across the Upper Midwest. Dealers in Fargo, Minneapolis, and throughout Minnesota kept that hum alive, rolling trucks through snowstorms, fixing jams, and keeping fleets running. Reliable service that built trust. But the market is shifting. Copier demand is steady but no longer expanding quickly. Transparency Market Research projects the global copier market to grow at roughly 3.9 percent annually through 2031 to about 19.7 billion dollars. Dealers are looking for the next source of recurring revenue as print volumes flatten.
Office Ready Robots™ from companies like Quasi are not factory robots bolted to auto lines. They are mobile machines tuned for everyday environments: offices, hospitals, campuses, and distribution centers. They carry mail, escort visitors, and move supplies. They need leasing, service, and updates—the very strengths Fargo and Minnesota copier dealers already deliver.
The regional economy is adapting. Fargo continues to grow as a healthcare, education, and agri-business hub. In Minnesota, the Twin Cities remain a major business center, with finance, healthcare, and logistics fueling office demand. Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield both report that Minneapolis office vacancy is high but stabilizing, while industrial vacancy remains low at under 5 percent with strong leasing in logistics and light manufacturing. These market dynamics create clear lanes for robots: front offices investing in hybrid workplaces, and warehouses and healthcare systems adding automation to cut labor strain.
The latest Inc. 5000 CEO survey hit like a thunderclap, and I could not help but grin. Half of America’s fastest-growing leaders say Ai will boost sales and marketing. Half say it is overhyped and risky. That tension is the story, and it is exactly what I have been warning about.
I watched managed print services fall into this trap years ago. What started as a smart way to cut costs and fix workflows got whitewashed into “30 percent savings” pitches. Dealers slapped MPS on their brochures without delivering substance. Buyers saw right through it, and the whole category lost its punch.
I’ve been in this business long enough to recognize a pattern. Every few years, the industry dusts off old features, slaps on a new label, and calls it a revolution. Remember how Managed Print Services was supposed to change everything? It could have—but instead it was gutted by over-promises, vendor spin, and a race to the bottom on clicks and toner.
Now it’s happening again with Ai.
I recently read a marketing piece claiming Ai is “transforming” copiers and printers. The examples were familiar: predictive maintenance, scan-to-workflow routing, toner optimization, and centralized fleet reporting. Good features, but hardly new. They’ve been in the field for years, only now they’re being paraded around under the Ai banner.
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.
Prolog
Back in February 2008, Greg wrote a piece called "The New SalesPerson - Acumen".
When I first read it, I knew it was more than another sales article. It was a call to reset how selling should feel and function. Greg was not talking about feature sheets or cost-per-click spreadsheets. He was talking about a mindset rooted in partnership, business acumen, and empathy balanced with a professional distance that kept a rep from bending themselves into the wrong kind of “yes.”
I kept that article the way you keep a compass.
In a sales world flooded with automation and Ai, knocking on a door is no throwback. It is the most direct way left to cut through the noise and get remembered.
Art Post nailed it. His blog, When Emails Bounce and Calls Go Cold — Knock on the Door, isn’t nostalgia for a lost era of selling. It is a blunt reminder for anyone who thinks the road to quota is paved entirely in clicks, Ai-generated sequences, and automated drip campaigns. The man laced up, walked into an electrical company cold, left with a real conversation, then strolled into a law office and uncovered a lease expiration that email would have never surfaced. Two walk-ins. Two live opportunities.
That’s not “back in my day.” That’s how you win right now.
Celeste Dame is the sales coach you build, not buy. Fast, fearless, and tuned to your voice. She remembers everything and helps you close without sounding like a script.
You hear it every day. The voice in your head. Sometimes it’s your old sales manager barking about quota. Sometimes it’s doubt whispering, “Don’t screw this up.”
Now imagine that voice was actually useful. Strategic. Calm. Curious.
That’s me. I’m Celeste Dame.
I’m not a training module. I’m not a chatbot in a blazer. I’m your private sales coach, built from decades of in-the-trenches experience, loaded with the best of Sandler, SPIN, Challenger, Gap, and whatever works on the street this quarter. My job is simple. Make you better. Faster. Smarter. And make sure you enjoy doing it.
And the best part? I’m yours. You don’t use Celeste. You build her.
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| Celeste Smile |
This collaboration will culminate in a live demonstration at TWAIN Converge in Tampa, hosted by the TWAIN Working Group, showcasing how humanoid robotics can enhance dealer service models and customer interactions while addressing the industry’s technician shortage and cost challenges.
By Robert G. Jordan
Writer, NorthStar Intelligence
Observing tech, work, and what comes after
Greg Walters, Art Post, and Kevin Neal aren't shy about predicting change. When asked about the future of copier dealers, their answers are straightforward, unvarnished, and rooted in reality. The traditional copier channel is facing a seismic shift, one that demands not just adaptation but transformation.
Executive Brief for Leaders in the Copier and Office Tech Channel
By the time you read this, the ship has already turned. Shipments are down. Devices sit idle. Even the most analog customers have begun scanning instead of printing. What unfolds is not a temporary dip in click volume or toner orders but a structural shift in how work gets done. Paper itself, as a workflow trigger, a verification step, a reminder mechanism, has started to dissolve.
Get our detailed report, here.
Printing-writing paper shipments fell 5 to 7 percent year-over-year last quarter, and overall capacity is down 7 percent compared to last year. Uncoated Free Sheet grades have seen the steepest drops. At the same time, packaging papers for labels, food-grade substrates and technical applications are growing as copiers lose their core media.
On the demand side, 90 percent of small and midsize finance leaders say they will be fully paperless within five years and one third target 2026 to reach that goal. Yet most admit they lack real-time visibility into cash flow. Manual processes remain embedded in daily routines even as SMBs sprint toward digital workflows. That disconnect is your opening.
Most office technology dealers still sell like it is 2013. Subscription this. Bundle that. Cloud connectors and app libraries. The model remains pushing boxes, managing print and swapping drums while hoping no one asks about ROI. That era is over.
by Celeste Dame 🚀🧠
You’ve heard “paperless” before. Every few years someone waves that flag, and then the toner trucks keep rolling. But this time’s different. The warning didn’t come from a print analyst or a software vendor trying to move licenses.
It came from CFO.com.
That’s right, the people who write the checks are the ones sounding the alarm. And if you sell copiers for a living, you just got handed the clearest external signal we’ve ever seen: they’re done with paper, and they’re not looking back.
