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[jeffi_wu]

[Technology] The Remote Work System I Built — in 1993

In 1993, my business partner and I founded a printing company in Sydney. At the time, I wore every hat — owner, designer, sales rep, accountant — every task had to be done by my own hands. To improve efficiency, I began using Excel and designed a basic paper inventory management system.

Though simple, it was remarkably effective, greatly improving the accuracy and speed of our supply operations. Looking back, it may have been one of the earliest simplified warehouse management systems in the world.

Thanks to streamlined workflows and a reputation for integrity, I soon secured bulk printing contracts from several government departments. The orders were large, payments came fast, and this helped the company quickly accumulate its first capital reserve.

To expand operations, I set up two branch offices — one in North Sydney and one in the Western District. But this raised an urgent question: how to synchronize information across all three locations?

That same year, the concept of the Internet was just beginning to flicker into public awareness. I made what seemed at the time like a near-insane decision: to install network-enabled devices and enable remote file transmission between headquarters and the two branch offices.

While most businesses were still relying on fax machines or physical delivery, I was already synchronizing data via modem transmission.

There was no term like “remote work” back then.
But in practice, I had already implemented remote working.

In hindsight, this was truly one of the earliest remote work systems in the world.
Today, such a setup is common — even expected — but in 1993, almost no one understood its significance, let alone imagined it would become the mainstream global work model thirty years later.

In fact, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 that remote work was widely adopted across global enterprises.
Yet I had already completed the full transition from concept to deployment in 1993 — 34 years ahead of the curve.

It wasn’t that I could predict the future.
Rather, I could see — clearly, in that moment — the true nature of efficiency and structure.

And that is why I can confidently say:
I didn’t follow the era —
I brought it forward.