Why AI Will Never Replace IMC Employees
It’s the year 2025 & AI is one of the most popular concepts in our society today. Everything from ChatGPT, Siri, Gemini, AI image generators & even Grammarly are starting to take over our daily lives. It’s a testament to how advanced our computing & algorithms have come, for sure. However, when it comes to manufacturing & customer service, IMC has an opposite stance on the matter. A human stance.
In this article, we'll break down IMC’s core philosophy & why we believe that AI does not belong in our workplace – currently & in the future. Let's begin the discussion.
Once Upon a Time…
IMC/Teddy came to fruition nearly 70 years ago with the philosophy of bringing you the best quality stainless steel food service equipment made by human hands.
From there, IMC developed a national sales rep network to improve customer service. This enabled us to maintain strong relationships with customers & the rest is history. To this very day, IMC has been successful in retaining employees for long tenures, all of whom are proud of their craftsmanship & service. This simply could not be achieved with AI or robotics.
IMC says “NO” to AI
Yes, we’re here to announce that AI has no place in our operation – now or ever. Although not surprising, we’re going to give a simple list of reasons why:
- Quality Control – Let’s face it, AI will never understand what a final product should look like when all is said & done. You need a human interface to determine if an item is within acceptable standards. Overreliance on AI can lead to a loss of human oversight & judgment, potentially causing malfunctions or safety issues.
- Job Retention – This harkens back to our core philosophy. We believe in giving humans an opportunity to take pride in their own work. One robot “hired” is one less human employed.
- Complex Integration – The fusion of currently existing systems with advanced AI can be cumbersome & lead to significant downtime. Furthermore, if any AI-driven software goes down, this will mean less production & big delays for you.
- Human Interaction! – Separate from the manufacturing aspect, IMC does not have automated robots answering your phone calls. IMC does not have AI driven web chats to haphazardly take care of your inquiry. When you contact IMC, you are directed straight to a living, breathing human who is ready to assist you.
What Does the Future Hold?
At this current point in 2025, IMC has no plans of integrating robots or AI driven software into our operations. We’re sticking with machinery that is operated by human hands. In fact, we’ve recently upgraded several important pieces of equipment (A new shear & a new press brake, namely) in our lineup to hasten production & improve our overall quality.
IMC continues to bring innovation to the marketplace by releasing several industry defining products each year. All these products were the result of human expert engineering, not AI driven software.
Lastly, IMC is retaining its human component in the office. Real humans will continue to provide you with quotes, technical support, documentation, etc. No robots will be taking over these tasks.
While IMC acknowledges that AI has a firm grip on our daily lives, it will not become the core business of our operation. This is what separates us from the competition & how we prefer to maintain our relationship with you. To learn more about IMC, click here.
