Machine hammer peening (MHP) is a forming process that specifically improves the surface integrity of metallic materials. However, the process variant of robot-based electrodynamic MHP as well as MHP machining of metastable austenitic stainless steels has been poorly researched so far.The present work is therefore dedicated to the analysis of the cause-effect relationships between MHP process kinetics, surface integrity and fatigue behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel.