Method for Operating a Press, Computer Program and Electronically Readable Data Carrier

A method for operating a press, wherein a relationship between a detected component property (current value) of the final product (e.g. surface quality), the provided material property of the semi-finished product (e.g. sheet thickness), and the detected production parameter (e.g. pressing pressure) is determined, for example, by a self-learning algorithm, on the basis of precedingly determined differential values between target and current values of the component property. The algorithm is subsequently used for targeted selection of samples for quality monitoring.