Automatic Ice & Beverage, Inc. (known also by our acronym "AIB") is a stocking Wholesale Distributor specializing in commercial Ice Making, Beverage Dispensing, Refrigeration, Water Filtration & related equipment, parts & accessories for the Foodservice & Beverage Industry.  AIB also specializes in the Leasing and Rental of Ice Machines and Refrigeration Equipment in central Alabama.

AIB Markets primarily through a network of Dealers specializing in the Restaurant and Refrigeration Equipment industry, as well as major Soft Drink Beverage Bottlers, Coffee Roasters & OCS Dealers, as well as certain key National Accounts and large Industrial users.  

AIB's Huge Inventory is our strong suit, giving our customers the key advantage of quick availability.  Most orders received by 3 PM ship the same day, via UPS or Commercial Freight Lines, providing overnight service standard to most southeastern states, and just a few more days to all points in the continental United States. 

AIB's Parts Department is staffed by knowledgeable, competent personnel who are experts when it comes to components that make our machines tick.  Our customers have come to depend on us for our large inventory of replacement parts, as our goal is to have the part you need on the shelf, when you need it.

AIB's Technical Service Department offers in-house as well as field service & repair of most brands of ice & beverage equipment.  Phone consultation is available to our customers on a complementary basis during normal business hours.  Our techs have a depth of highly specialised product knowledge that is unmatched in the industry, combined with an attitude of caring and drive toward customer satisfaction that is second to none.

HISTORY:

 AIB was Founded in 1966 by Lewis & Mary Louise McMillan.  Lewis McMillan was a veteran of WWII who used his electrical and refrigeration background to lead him into the field of Commercial Refrigeration repair and service, and eventually sales.  It was in 1961 when he traveled to the National Restaurant Association trade show in Chicago, in search of new product lines to represent.  That was where he met a gentleman named David Smith, who invited him to an exclusive off-site preview of a "new ice machine" he had invented, not even being shown officially at the show yet, which he had named "Ice-O-Matic", and the rest is history.  Lewis McMillan was hired by Mr Smith in early 1962 as the first Ice-O-Matic Factory Representative in the Southeast, eventually pioneering the new brand throughout the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

AIB was actually formed as an offshoot of Mr McMillan's Manufacturers' Rep business, as a distribution center for the products represented, in order to give his Dealers faster service from a large local inventory. This simple philosophy still guides us today!