The objective of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 570 “Distortion Engineering” is the control of distortion of component parts. The overall challenge is developing suitable concepts and methods which can describe and predict distortion of a workpiece along the entire process chain. The objective to control distortion is to determine the mechanisms of distortion from the basic material up to the finished component part. Because of the complexity of the production chain of component parts, not all relationships between cause and effect are known so far. Therefore, manufacturers of component parts do not have continuous planning possibilities along the process chain to guarantee that the chosen material and the manufacturing steps lead to little distortion after the last process step quenching. A solution for this problem may be a prognosis model for distortion along the process chain in order to support the planning process. The inputs of this model should be indicators in terms of significant input parameters which are able to predict distortion. Current elaborations of how far indicators can be used for predicting distortion are presented by the example of the production of bearing rings in the SFB 570.