Traditional engineering
Traditional engineering, also called sequential engineering, describes a development process where each step—marketing, design, manufacturing, testing, and production—is done one after another. The next stage can’t start until the previous one is finished. Information only flows forward, so any errors or changes aren’t addressed until the end. This can lead to underestimated costs and delays, since later steps don’t consider what earlier ones will need. It’s often said to be “over the wall” engineering because each stage hands the work to the next without much back-and-forth.
Traditional manufacturing was often driven by sales forecasts, with companies producing and stocking inventory to meet expected demand. Lean manufacturing, by contrast, aims to produce based on real customer needs, pulling work through the system as orders come in.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:14 (CET).