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Article: Wayne, Pa., Defense Contractor Shifts Cold War to Vending Machine Sales.(Originated from The Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- October 6, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Oct. 6--The Cold War hasn't ended for ECC International Corp.
It was a few years ago that ECC, a Wayne defense contractor that sells training simulators to the Army and the Air Force, took an odd route in attempting to demilitarize its product mix.
The company began manufacturing vending machines.
ECC's glass-front vending machine for bottled soft drinks could display 54 brands or flavors. More important, the bottles didn't break when they clanked into the repository for the consumer.
Market research showed that consumers bought more bottled soft drinks from ECC machines than from traditional can or bottle dispensers, ...