In incremental sheet metal forming, the workpiece is formed successively. The forming zone is localized and moves over the workpiece according to the tool movement. Similar to the metal spinning process, this results in local material thinning and even material failure. In order to be able to produce more complex workpieces, a homogeneous distribution of the material thinning and thus an even wall thickness is aimed for. An advantageous procedure for the "stepwise" shaping of the final geometry is derived from the consideration of a component cross-section. From the geometric considerations, conclusions are derived on the choice of the largest possible mandrel and the reduced material thinning by the step-by-step approximation of the component geometry. The methodical approach can be automated using current computer technology. The result is an algorithm for generating the NC path curves from the desired component geometry