For an efficient and effective system development the relation between methods and tools should be maintained carefully. This relation - called method companionship - can be derived using the mata-data models and meta-activity models of methods and tools. In order to formulate guide-lines for the use of the Information Engineering Workbench (IEW) within the System Development Methodology (SDM), we discuss the determination of the meta-data models and a formal derivation of the support. The structure of the guide-lines is discussed together with their verification within some organizations. Finally, some conclusions from this research are given.