Stanzen

Stanzen is a German term with multiple related meanings in metalworking and manufacturing. As a verb, it denotes the action of punching, stamping, or cutting holes out of a material, most often sheet metal, using a stamping press. In industrial contexts, the process is called stamping or punching and uses a die and a matching punch to shear, cut, or form the workpiece. The operation can produce blanks, perforations, or shaped features and typically yields a waste slug.

The equipment involved includes stamping presses (mechanical, hydraulic, or servo-driven), punches, dies, and tooling. Key process parameters are tonnage, stroke, die clearances, and lubrication. Common operations are blanking (producing the finished part from a sheet), piercing (creating holes), and forming (bending or embossing). In many plants, several steps are combined in progressive dies to produce complete parts in a single cycle.

Materials and applications: sheet metal is the primary material, including steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and copper; plastics and composites can also be stamped or hot-stamped for decorative or functional purposes. Stamping is widely used in high-volume production for automotive components, electronics housings, appliances, hardware, and packaging, valued for efficiency, repeatability, and tight tolerances.

Variants and related processes: hot stamping adds heat for coatings or surface effects; deep drawing is a related forming process for hollow parts; stamping can be integrated with forming operations in progressive dies. See also metal stamping, blanking, piercing, and press operation.