Porsche - Audi - Volkswagen was very slow and generally a "johnny come
lately" when it came to entering the "electronic catalog age" compared with
other other automotive manufacturers.  When I went to a Chevy dealership for
parts for a Monte Carlo in 1992, not a single parts book was present in the
parts department.  Everything was computerized with 20 inch screens (GUI) -
very impressive while VW still slogged along with fiche readers since 1974
with "obsolete" printed parts books at the ready for further information.
The counterperson said they had been using their system for about 4 years
and that their system covered every GM model clear back into the 40s
including obsolete information.  Not bad for a system that at the time
required massive amounts of precious disc space, but then again, GM always
spent money like a drunken sailor ;)  Of course, today's programming and
disc space require nothing more than a cheep PC purchased at Fry's
Electronics (on sale of course).  And like Mark said, they probably do their
stuff on-line with a bank of servers in Detroit with a CD or DVD backup at
the dealership.

The aftermarket parts market started with primarily the primitive Triad
system and a few others.  The Autozones, Advance Auto, Carquest, Parts
Plus and O-Reilley's of today have more modern user friendly catalog
interfaces, but most still use a combo of primitive DOS-like screens for
inquiries, lists and invoice generation with somewhat of primitive imaging,
but they're improving as they go along.  Because of this, the printed parts
catalogs and catalog racks of 30 years ago are still very much present in
most of these FLAPS.  In addition, having worked with a Triad-based system
recently at a FLAPS, they're basically on line with a bank of servers at the
regional warehouse and/or at corporate headquarters.  A counterperson the
day remarked how crazy it gets when their system goes down and they to
resort to hand-written invoices along with a thick printed price list that
have to be entered later on when the system comes back up.
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
75 914 1.8 (No Name Yet)
Full Timing Since March 1999
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 10:45 AM, Mark Tuovinen <aksyncronaut@gmail.com>wrote:

> Not only are the parts catalogs electronic these days, thay are often not
> at
> the dealership at all.  At the Honda/Acura dealership I work in we use an
> online catalog hosted by the manufacturer.  They do supply it in disc form
> every month but we only use it as a back up.  We have not had printed
> catalogs since 1997.
>
> Mark in AK
> Assistant Parts Manager
> Continental Honda/Acura
>
> On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Tom Hargrave <thargrav@hiwaay.net> wrote:
>
> > As computers invade every corner of the world these microfiche readers
> will
> > become less & less common.
> >
> > The local MB dealership no longer has one - everything's on the computer.
> >
> > Tom
> > www.kegkits.com
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
> Of
> > Charles Nighbor
> > Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 6:12 PM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Use of VW Dealers computer
> >
> > Time to time when my VW Official Manual doesn't show what I need to see
> how
> > it goes together I go the nearest VW Dealer and he gets out the right
> > flinch
> > to feed into the computer like reader. If it is the correct view of what
> I
> > need he prints it for me.
> > I have the print out of the fold down table. With that I was able to
> repair
> > my table when in the closed position and couldn't be opened.
> > Thanks
> > Charles Nighbor Architect
> > Walnut Creek, CA
> > PS Thinking of selling my 91 Multi Van 126,000 miles
>