Microcat Ford 〈90% Extended〉

Then, in the late 1980s, a quiet revolution began at Ford’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany and Dearborn, Michigan. Engineers and programmers asked a radical question: What if we put the entire parts catalog on a compact disc?

In the labyrinthine world of car parts, chaos once reigned. Imagine a Ford dealership in the mid-1990s. Behind the counter stood a parts interpreter named Dave. To his left were five massive, sagging bookshelves. To his right was a microfiche reader—a clunky machine that projected tiny film squares onto a green screen. microcat ford

The name was a clever tribute to the old "microfiche" system—but with a "cat" for catalog . It was a CD-ROM-based electronic parts catalog (EPC). When it first launched in the early 1990s, it felt like magic. Then, in the late 1980s, a quiet revolution