Editing Workflow (section)

== Historical development ==
The development of the concept of a workflow occurred above a series of loosely defined, overlapping eras.

=== Beginnings in manufacturing ===
The modern history of workflows can be traced to [[Frederick Winslow Taylor|Frederick Taylor]]<ref>Taylor, 1919</ref> and [[Henry Gantt]], although the term "workflow" was not in use as such during their lifetimes.<ref>[https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=workflow%2Cwork+flow%2C+work-flow&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cworkflow%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cwork%20flow%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cwork%20-%20flow%3B%2Cc0 Ngram Viewer ]</ref> One of the earliest instances of the term "work flow" was in a railway engineering journal from 1921.<ref name="SaundersBlundstone1921">{{cite book|author1=Lawrence Saunders|author2=S. R. Blundstone|title=The Railway Engineer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBbnAAAAMAAJ|year=1921}}</ref>

Taylor and Gantt launched the study of the deliberate, rational organization of work, primarily in the context of manufacturing. This gave rise to [[time and motion studies]].<ref name="ChatfieldVangermeersch2014">{{cite book|author1=Michael Chatfield|author-link1 = Michael Chatfield |author2=Richard Vangermeersch|author-link2=Richard Vangermeersch|title=The History of Accounting (RLE Accounting): An International Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmnMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA269|date=5 February 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-67545-6|pages=269–}}</ref> Related concepts include [[job shop]]s and [[queuing systems]] ([[Markov chain]]s).<ref name="Pinedo2012">{{cite book|author=Michael L. Pinedo|title=Scheduling: Theory, Algorithms, and Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QRiDnuXSnVwC|date=7 January 2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-2361-4}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=job+shops%2Cflow+shops%2Cqueuing+systems&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cjob%20shops%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cflow%20shops%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cqueuing%20systems%3B%2Cc0 Ngram Viewer]</ref>

The 1948 book ''[[Cheaper by the Dozen]]'' introduced the emerging concepts to the context of family life.

=== Maturation and growth ===
The invention of the [[typewriter]] and the [[copier]] helped spread the study of the rational organization of labor from the manufacturing shop floor to the office. Filing systems and other sophisticated systems for managing physical [[information]] flows evolved. Several events likely contributed to the development of formalized information workflows. First, the field of optimization theory matured and developed [[mathematical optimization]] techniques. For example, Soviet mathematician and economist [[Leonid Kantorovich]] developed the seeds of [[linear programming]] in 1939 through efforts to solve a plywood manufacturer's production optimization issues.<ref name="KatseneliboigenTheSoviet90">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3bYoKUYXaYC&pg=PA410 |chapter=Chapter 17: Nobel and Lenin Prize Laureate L.V. Kantorovich: The Political Dilemma in Scientific Creativity |title=The Soviet Union: Empire, Nation, and System |author=Katseneliboigen, A. |publisher=Transaction Publishers |pages=405–424 |year=1990 |isbn=978-0887383328 |access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="WahidFrontiers02">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J9CwoSxpHXYC&pg=PA95 |chapter=Chapter 11: Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986): A Pioneer of the Theory of Optimum Resource Allocation and a Laureate of 1975 |title=Frontiers of Economics: Nobel Laureates of the Twentieth Century |author=Choudhury, K. |editor=Wahid, A.N.M. |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=93–98 |year=2002 |isbn=978-0313320736 |access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref> Second, [[World War II]] and the [[Apollo program]] drove process improvement forward with their demands for the rational organization of work.<ref name="SmithTheHist09">{{cite web |url=http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2009/jul/history-modern-quality |title=The History of Modern Quality |author=Smith, J.L. |work=PeoriaMagazines.com |publisher=Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc |date=July 2009 |access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="ShraderHistory06">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/operations_research_vol3/CMH_70-110-1.pdf |chapter=Chapter 9: ORSA and the Army, 1942–1995 - An Assessment |title=History of Operations Research in the United States Army: Volume III, 1973–1995 |author=Shrader, C.R. |publisher=United States Army |volume=3 |year=2009 |pages=277–288 |access-date=20 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="RobinsJrProgram07">{{cite journal |url=https://appel.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/NASA_APPEL_ASK_26po_program.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124224957/https://appel.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/NASA_APPEL_ASK_26po_program.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-01-24 |title=Program and Project Management Improvement Initiatives |journal=ASK Magazine |author=Robins Jr., C.H. |volume=26 |pages=50–54 |year=2007}}</ref>

=== Quality era ===
In the post-war era, the work of [[W. Edwards Deming]] and [[Joseph M. Juran]] led to a focus on quality, first in Japanese companies, and more globally from the 1980s: there were various movements ranging from [[total quality management]] to [[Six Sigma]], and then more qualitative notions of [[business process re-engineering]].<ref name="HammerChampy2009">{{cite book|author1=Michael Hammer|author2=James Champy|title=Reengineering the Corporation: Manifesto for Business Revolution, A|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjvGTXgFl6cC|date=13 October 2009|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-180864-7}}</ref> This led to more efforts to improve workflows, in [[knowledge economy]] sectors as well as in manufacturing. Variable demands on workflows were recognised when the theory of [[critical path method|critical paths]] and moving bottlenecks was considered.<ref>Goldratt, Eliyahu M.[https://www.toc-goldratt.com/content/My-Saga-to-Improve-Production "My saga to improve production." MANAGEMENT TODAY-LONDON- (1996).]</ref>