Short answers, pulled from the story.
Naram-Sin of Akkad issued the first known common standards for length area volume weight time and shekels that formed the bedrock upon which artisan guilds in each city built their operations. These measurements were not merely suggestions but were the foundation for early trade regulations.
The French Revolution accelerated the decline of guilds with the abolition of guilds in 1791. Most European countries gradually followed during the 18th and 19th centuries as industrialization made guild-based production less viable.
Women participated in medieval guilds often through marriage or as widows or daughters of masters but evidence from England and the Continent shows they engaged widely in guild life. In Rouen and Cologne women held full master status in select guilds and dominated certain trades though restrictions persisted especially in medical guilds.
Ancient and early medieval India saw powerful corporate bodies of craftsmen and traders known as śreñi while the Ottoman Empire had the Akhiya fraternities. Late-imperial China saw merchant and craft guilds such as the gongsuo become prominent from the 17th century and medieval and early-modern Japan had trade and craft guilds known as za.
Modern guilds in the United States exist in fields such as law medicine engineering and academia with organizations like the Newspaper Guild having over 30,000 members in North America. These groups replicate guild structure and operation requiring varying lengths of apprenticeships before one can gain professional certification that holds great legal weight.