Traditionally, production of goods was usually carried out by a single skilled artisan, often with assistants. Manufacturing revolutionized this system by assigning various stages of production to different people which, allowed each of them to specialize in a particular skill, therefore improving efficiency of the entire process and also allowing to bypass the inflexible guild organization. This system of labour, known as the putting-out system or the workshop system, was popular throughout Europe, particularly in the textile industry. It existed as early as the 15th century, but was most prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries.