A hydraulic system for a cyclically operating shaping machine includes at least one hydraulic drive unit for cyclically driving a component of the shaping machine at a start time; at least one pump; and at least one hydraulic accumulator which can be discharged for driving the at least one hydraulic drive unit and which can be charged up by operation of the at least one pump. An open-loop or closed-loop control unit is also provided for control of the at least one pump. The open-loop or closed-loop control unit is adapted to operate the at least one pump continuously until the start time of the at least one hydraulic drive unit to charge up the at least one hydraulic accumulator until the start time of the hydraulic drive unit.