Abstract: A device and method for inserting sheet bars into drawing tools provides a program controllable sheet bar inserter with a gripper which contains a plurality of suction cups or electromagnets for picking up or setting down a sheet bar. The drawing tool contains a pair of bearing faces which together clamp in the sheet bar during drawing. In order, in particular for complicated bearing faces of the deep-drawing tool, to achieve a uniformly high drawn component quality and avoid rejects due to possible displacement of the sheet bars within the drawing tool as it closes, the gripper is constructed in the form of an at least three legged gripping spider with controllable legs with which the picked-up sheet bar can be deformed in a defined manner during transportation from the picking-up location to the drawing tool and can be matched to the shape of the bearing face of the lower bearing frame.