1. A method for diagnosing technical devices, especially pumps and valves, that are disposed within an industrial installation used in the processing industry, with disturbance variables that affect the devices and influence the service life thereof being detected by means of sensory technology, with the data of said disturbance variables being processed in a simulative manner in order to determine the expected service life of each device wherein in an expert unit various maintenance instructions are stored, with said maintenance instructions being output together with the expected remaining trouble-free operating time of the industrial installation when a lower service life limit of one or more devices is reached.