In this paper, the interactor factorization (IF) approach has been presented. The IF approach establishes parallels between SISO versus MIMO processes with time delays and results in a formal and unified method for degigning time delay compensators and feedback controllers. The MIMO process transfer function matrix is factored into the product of an ＇＇inverse interactor matrix＇＇ and a ＇＇residual matrix＇＇. The inverse interactor matrix factors out the ＇＇natural＇＇ (minimal) time delays and facilitates the design and interpretation of controllers and compensators for systems with time delays. For a large class of problems the IF approach leads to solutions that are optimal in the sense that the controllers exist, are causal and have minimal delays. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed IF approach is more general, more rigorous and results in overall performance that is equal to, or better than the existing techniques.