A metal strip is fed to a rolling stand by a feeding device and removed by a removing device. A control device cyclically determines, based on final thickness deviations of portions of the metal strip from a setpoint thickness of the metal strip on the exit side, setpoint values and outputs the determined setpoint values to final control elements. The final control elements include the feeding device, an adjusting device for the rolling gap of the rolling stand, a drive for driving rolls of the rolling stand, and/or the removing device. For the feeding device, the drive, and the removing device, the setpoint value is a setpoint speed or torque. For the adjusting device, the setpoint value is a setpoint rolling-gap value. The control device determines a setpoint value based on a number of final thickness deviations allowing for the inverse frequency response of the respective final control element.