Reverse engineering is a process engineer’s use in product development, taking apart a product to understand its design and functionality. Engineers use this process to examine a product's design. By disassembling a product, they can see the materials, how parts fit together, and how the product functions. This knowledge is helpful when creating similar products or improving the design of existing ones.

These are the major ways this method comes in handy:

• Using reverse engineering to improve
  Reverse engineering helps engineers find problems in a product's design or its manufacturing. They can identify if a part is not strong enough or if there is a more efficient assembly method. This leads to improvements in the product, enhancing its safety and functionality.
  It also helps engineers learn from other, effective products, such as items made by other companies in their space. Through reverse engineering, engineers can study these products to understand their successful features, and use it to help improve.
• Making parts to maintain machine functionality
  For older products, replacement parts may not be readily available. Reverse engineering enables engineers to recreate these parts, which helps organizations maintain the functionality of older machines or products.
• Sparking new ideas
  Reverse engineering helps engineers develop new commodities. By understanding existing products, they can innovate and design new products that offer better performance or new capabilities.
• Checking quality
  In quality inspection, reverse engineering helps engineers understand what a well-made product looks like. This knowledge allows them to determine if new products meet the required standards.
• Customizing products
  For products that need to meet specific requirements, reverse engineering helps engineers modify existing designs to meet these unique needs. This helps them make sure the final product meets user specifications.

Engineers rely on methods like reverse engineering to understand, improve, and develop products that are well-made and function as intended.