In this paper a general strategy for process design using nonlinear goal programming is developed and applied to machining operations. The developed strategy allows different priority levels for each objective. The resulting design and optimization problem can be solved using unconstrained nonlinear techniques with no need for linearization. Evaluation of the developed strategy was conducted using single pass machining operations. The study proved the effectiveness of the strategy in selecting the optimum process conditions under different production priorities. The developed strategy is also compared with a strategy based on a fuzzy nonlinear programming model. The fuzzy-based solution can be considered as the fuzzy alternative or the approximation of the multiple objective solution.