Re-Engineering

Re-engineering is the investigation and redesign of individual components. It may also

describe the entire overhaul of a device by taking the current design and improving
certain aspects of it. The aims of re-engineering may be to improve a particular area of
performance or functionality, reduce operational costs or add new elements to a current
design. The methods used depend on the device but typically involve engineering
drawings of the amendments followed by extensive testing of prototypes before
production. The rights to re-engineer a product belong solely to the original owner of the
design or relevant patent.
Reverse Engineering
Unlike re-engineering, reverse engineering takes a finished product with the aim of
discovering how it works by testing it. Typically this is done by companies that seek to
infiltrate a competitor's market or understand its new product. In doing so they can
produce new products while allowing the original creator to pay all the development
costs and take all the risks involved with creating a new product. Analysis of a product in
this way is done without technical drawings or prior knowledge of how the device works,
and the basic method used in reverse engineering begins by identifying the system's
components, followed by an investigation into the relationship among these components.