Relay logic was certainly used prior to this. For example elevator call logic goes back to the 20s:

http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/Elevator_control_system

Clearly the engineers involved had some way to think about it, but I suspect were not scholarly enough to write a paper about it. (not that I've researched this.. perhaps there were earlier papers).

Edit: Well here is a patent: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/82/ae/57/d431cf0...

David Lindquist was Otis's lead engineer..