The invention relates to an engineering method and system for industrial automation systems, in particular for MES systems, based on at least one computational unit with an input auxiliary device, an output auxiliary device, in addition to at least one display device. According to said method, the modelled objects comprise installation structures or installation parts and are linked to meta information. The modelled objects are structured in the engineering method as hierarchical trees and can be interconnected by lateral networking or by means of a cursor. The objects are executed in run-time by evaluating the meta information in a target system, whereby the functions of an installation that has been modelled in the engineering method are determined from the structure of the tree and the networked connections.