The work leading to the introduction of the Advanced Photo System was extremely complex and required Eastman Kodak Company to manage this work through the application of systems engineering principles. This paper will discuss the complexity of the situation, the principles that were applied and specific methodologies that Eastman Kodak used during system development. The definition of a system provided in MIL‐STD‐499B, “Systems Engineering”, May, 1991 Draft“: A system is a composite of people, products, and processes that provide a capability to satisfy stated needs. A complete system includes the facilities, equipment (hardware and software), material, service, data, skilled personnel, and techniques required to achieve, provide and sustain system effectiveness.” The Advanced Photo System, including all of these attributes, as well as the additional interactions involved in joint development, required Kodak to actively implement system engineering principles. These principles can be defined as the application of scientific and engineering effort to transform an operational need into a defined system configuration using a top‐down, iterative process of requirements definition, functional analysis and allocation, synthesis, optimization, design, test, and evaluation as defined by Blanchard and Fabrycky. This paper will describe the four major accomplishments of this effort: Providing an overall process for development and verification of system requirements, using a top‐down approach that views the system as a whole and provides an orientation towards the life‐cycle of the system Integrating existing development management processes by emphasizing the system environment that these processes exist within Integrating widely scattered technology, design, manufacturing and management efforts using “front‐end” analysis of contributions to system performance Providing a framework for managing system level negotiations with our joint development partners and internal organizations