A method for computer-aided processing of state messages in an automation installation, wherein state messages are generated by components and detected with their generation points in time, where causative states present at the generation point of the state message or beforehand in other components are determined for a multiplicity of state messages of a respective component and the current state in the generated state message, where the propagation time between occurrence of the respective causative state and the generation point of the state message is calculated for each causative state, where groups are formed from the causative states, where in a respective group all causative states have at least the common feature that they were determined for the same current state in the respective component, and where at least one statistical parameter is determined from the propagation times which belong to the causative states of the same group and stored.