A method for analyzing quality defects in vehicle bodies and/or vehicle components after and/or when passing through a production process in process engineering plants , preferably after and/or when passing through a painting process in painting plants , the method comprising: - creating a workpiece-specific data set uniquely associated with a vehicle body and/or a vehicle component at the beginning of a production process, in particular at the beginning of a painting process, and/or creating a workpiece-specific data set uniquely associated with a workpiece carrier at the beginning of a production process, in particular at the beginning of a painting process; - supplementing the workpiece-specific data set while a vehicle body and/or a vehicle component passes through the production process, in particular the painting process, with in particular quality-relevant process data , and/or supplementing the workpiece carrier-specific data set while a workpiece carrier passes through the production process, in particular the painting process, with in particular quality-relevant process data; - storing the workpiece-specific data set in a database and/or storing the workpiece carrier-specific data set in a database , wherein the workpiece-specific data set and/or the workpiece carrier-specific data set is supplemented with quality data which contain information about quality defects, in particular about paint defects, in the relevant vehicle body and/or in the relevant vehicle components, preferably at the end of the production process, in particular at the end of the painting process, and wherein quality data of a plurality of workpiece-specific data sets and/or of a plurality of workpiece carrier-specific data sets are automatically classified into different quality defect clusters by means of a clustering method for detecting systematic quality defects. - creating a workpiece-specific data set uniquely associated with a vehicle body and/or a vehicle component at the beginning of a production process, in particular at the beginning of a painting process, and/or creating a workpiece-specific data set uniquely associated with a workpiece carrier at the beginning of a production process, in particular at the beginning of a painting process; - supplementing the workpiece-specific data set while a vehicle body and/or a vehicle component passes through the production process, in particular the painting process, with in particular quality-relevant process data , and/or supplementing the workpiece carrier-specific data set while a workpiece carrier passes through the production process, in particular the painting process, with in particular quality-relevant process data; - storing the workpiece-specific data set in a database and/or storing the workpiece carrier-specific data set in a database , wherein the workpiece-specific data set and/or the workpiece carrier-specific data set is supplemented with quality data which contain information about quality defects, in particular about paint defects, in the relevant vehicle body and/or in the relevant vehicle components, preferably at the end of the production process, in particular at the end of the painting process, and wherein quality data of a plurality of workpiece-specific data sets and/or of a plurality of workpiece carrier-specific data sets are automatically classified into different quality defect clusters by means of a clustering method for detecting systematic quality defects. <EOS>