Method for operating a coating assembly (10, 50) for the automatic series coating of workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74), for which the coating requires a plurality of consecutive coating processing steps, comprising • at least two coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56) with respective coating devices (26, 28) for performing respectively at least one coating processing step, • at least one transfer point (42, 44, 58), wherein an automatic transport system (38, 62) is provided, by means of which the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) can be moved individually and independently of one another between the at least two coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56) and the at least one transfer point (42, 44, 58), characterised by the following steps: • providing a dataset with a plurality of data about workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) to be coated, comprising the respective type of the workpieces and the identification data about the coating processing steps required for the individual coating, • automatically setting up an optimised production plan for individually coating the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) according to the respectively required coating processing steps, wherein for each workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) an individual sequence is defined, according to which the respective workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) is to be moved by means of the automatic transport system (38, 62) for coating into respectively suitable processing stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56) or into the temporary storage (34, 60), taking into consideration the following optimisation criteria: • avoiding moving workpieces into such coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), which are also provided at least for coating processing steps which are not necessary for the individual coating of the respective workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74), • as far as possible a homogenous occupancy of the coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), • coating the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) according to the production plan. • at least two coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56) with respective coating devices (26, 28) for performing respectively at least one coating processing step, • at least one transfer point (42, 44, 58), • providing a dataset with a plurality of data about workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) to be coated, comprising the respective type of the workpieces and the identification data about the coating processing steps required for the individual coating, • automatically setting up an optimised production plan for individually coating the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) according to the respectively required coating processing steps, wherein for each workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) an individual sequence is defined, according to which the respective workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) is to be moved by means of the automatic transport system (38, 62) for coating into respectively suitable processing stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56) or into the temporary storage (34, 60), taking into consideration the following optimisation criteria: • avoiding moving workpieces into such coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), which are also provided at least for coating processing steps which are not necessary for the individual coating of the respective workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74), • as far as possible a homogenous occupancy of the coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), • coating the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) according to the production plan. • avoiding moving workpieces into such coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), which are also provided at least for coating processing steps which are not necessary for the individual coating of the respective workpiece (30, 32, 34, 36, 74), • as far as possible a homogenous occupancy of the coating stations (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 52, 54, 56), • coating the workpieces (30, 32, 34, 36, 74) according to the production plan.