Systems engineering methods have played an important role in the research and development of complex equipment and systems represented by aerospace, defense technology, and ship engineering at home and abroad. For the research and development of advanced semiconductor equipment such as lithography machines, it is particularly important to develop independent innovation and integrated design and manufacturing capabilities led by forward design and guided by systems engineering methods. Starting from the origin of systems engineering, this paper gives a survey of the common methods of systems engineering, and focuses on the related systems engineering tool chains and key technologies of model-based systems engineering with the applications in the field of semiconductor equipment as the background. Finally, this paper looks forward to the application prospects of systems engineering methods, especially model-based systems engineering methods, in domestic semiconductor equipment industry.