[Technology] Remote Work System of 1993

Wu Chao Hui (JEFFI CHAO HUI WU)

Article Date: June 23, 2025, Monday, 1:40 PM

In 1993, my partner and I founded a printing factory in Sydney. At that time, I was both the boss and the designer, salesperson, and accountant, handling all tasks personally. To improve efficiency, I started using EXCEL and designed a paper inventory management system myself. Although this system was rudimentary, it was extremely practical and greatly enhanced the accuracy and response speed of incoming and outgoing goods. Looking back now, it might have been one of the earliest simple warehousing systems in the world.

With efficient processes and a reputation for integrity, I quickly received large orders from multiple government departments. The high volume of printing and fast payment allowed the company to rapidly accumulate its first funds. To expand the business, I established two order-taking offices in North Sydney and the Western District, and how to synchronize information among the three locations became an urgent issue.

In the same year, the concept of the internet began to emerge in the market. I made a decision that seemed almost crazy at the time—installing networked devices ahead of others to enable remote file transmission between the headquarters and two offices. While others were still relying on fax machines, telephones, and manual delivery, I was already attempting to synchronize data via modems, manually transferring files using serial connections and dial-up methods. There were no clouds, no NAS, no email systems, and not even the term "remote work," but I had indeed achieved a complete closed loop of remote work scenarios.

This technology was deployed in 1993, with almost no reference cases, no technical standards, and no universal equipment; everything relied solely on structural imagination and system practice. Many people at the time even mocked this approach as "detached from reality," believing that offices should be face-to-face, and documents should be printed, signed, and delivered physically. But I was very clear that "physical synchronization" is the limit of efficiency, while "structural distribution" is the future of information.

From a structural perspective, I designed a decentralized collaborative model: the headquarters serves as the information core, with two offices as nodes, operating in three locations through a "role division + information synchronization" approach. Although there was no cloud system at the time, I manually built a prototype of the "cloud"—standardized document structures, unified naming conventions, universal table logic, and clear version identification. Even with outdated equipment and extremely slow internet speeds, I was still able to achieve collaboration across the three locations, task distribution, report archiving, and shared customer information. This is the original form of the "remote work operating system."

It now seems that this was actually one of the earliest remote work systems in the world. In today's context, this model has become the norm, but in 1993, almost no one understood its significance. Even fewer realized that this would become the mainstream way of working worldwide thirty years later.

More importantly, this is not a random "attempt," but rather the prototype of a series of systematic developments that followed.

In the future, when I build the logistics system, I will have long taken "multi-node remote input + synchronized cabinet scheduling + remote review" as a premise;

When I built the content platform, the forum backend architecture had already allowed for "remote login and seamless maintenance."

When I design a cultural system, I assume that "structure precedes team, and information precedes location."

In 2013, I systematically initiated a comprehensive remote work model. This was a full seven years earlier than the remote mode that was "temporarily activated" due to the global pandemic outbreak in 2020.

When most people are still storing files in the office, I have already begun to implement a "paperless structure"; when most people still need to communicate face-to-face for decision-making, I can complete full-process management across different time zones; when the pandemic leaves others flustered and disrupts processes, my system only needs to adjust one parameter to smoothly switch to remote synchronization mode.

In other words, I did not start using remote work because of the pandemic; rather, I had already built a complete structure by the time the pandemic occurred. This is the structural time advantage: it is not about predicting the future, but about making the future become the past.

The true meaning of remote work was not widely adopted by global enterprises until the pandemic in 2020. However, as early as 1993, I had already completed the transition from technology to application, a full thirty years ahead of this era. It was not that I foresaw the future, but rather that I clearly understood the essence of efficiency and structure in the present. For this reason, I dare to say that I did not catch up with the times; instead, I realized it ahead of time.

So when people talk about "metaverse office," "remote collaboration platform," and "digital twin teams" today, what I see is not "the cutting edge," but "a replication of history."

I am not a reactive technology; I am proactively building structures.

It is not about using tools in advance, but about forming a system in advance.

It's not about catching up with the future, but rather existing in it ahead of time.

This is the true starting point of "remote work."