Technical systems of tomorrow will go beyond current traditional mechatronics designs by incorporating inherent intelligence. This adds high demands on the product development process, such as the need for a comprehensive understanding of the system and consideration of the full product life-cycle. Systems engineering (SE) is an approach that has a potential to fulfill these requirements. However, until now it could not be applied through a wide range of different industries and segments, especially in small and medium sized enterprises. This paper discusses different obstacles for the use of SE and presents a concept for a systems engineering guideline to face these challenges. The aim of the systems engineering guideline is to enable a target-oriented application of systems engineering methods and tools. The objective is to overcome the barriers of introduction of SE for enterprises. It links a design process to methods and tools in the field of systems engineering.