In this paper we investigate the parameter estimation of the fiber lay-down process in the production of nonwovens. The parameter estimation is based on the mass per unit area data, which is available at least on an industrial scale. We introduce a stochastic model to represent the fiber lay-down and through the model’s parameters we characterize this fiber lay-down. Based on the occupation time, which is the equivalent quantity for the mass per unit area in the context of stochastic dynamical systems, an optimization procedure is formulated that estimates the parameters of the model. The optimization procedure is tested using occupation time data given by Monte–Carlo simulations. The feasibility of the optimization procedure on an industrial level is tested using the fiber paths simulated by the industrial software FYDIST.