Piercing is a shearing process where a punch and die are used to create a hole in sheet metal or a plate. The process and machinery are usually the same as that used in blanking, except that the piece being punched out is scrap in the piercing process.

There are many specialized types of piercing: lancing, perforating, notching, nibbling, shaving, cutoff, and dinking.

The amount of clearance between a punch and die for piercing is governed by the thickness and strength of the work-piece material being pierced. The punch-die clearance determines the load or pressure experienced at the cutting edge of the tool, commonly known as point pressure. Excessive point pressure can lead to accelerated wear and ultimately failure.
Burr height is typically used as an index to measure tool wear, because it is easy to measure during production.
For simple piercing operations a pancake die is used.
Specialized types

Lancing
Lancing is the manufacturing process where a piece of material is sheared and bent in order to make tabs, vents, and louvers. A key part of this process is that there is not reduction of material, only a modification in its geometry.
There are three key characteristics to the process of lancing: 1. The material is only modified, nothing is removed. 2. One or more cuts are made, with the remainder being bent to the necessary angle or curve. 3. Ability to make a special feature in a part using only one cut in the material.
The cut made in lancing is not a closed cut, like in perforation even though a similar machine is used, but a side is left connected to be bent sharply or in more of a rounded manner. Mechanical presses are used to perform lancing, commonly

Lancing can be used to make partial contours and free up material for other operations further down the production line. Along with these reasons lancing is also used to make tabs (where the material is bent at a 90 degree angle to the material), vents (where the bend is around 45 degrees), and louvers (where the piece is rounded or cupped).
Normally lancing is done on a mechanical press, lancing requires the use of punches and dies to be used. The different punches and dies determine the shape and angle (or curvature) of the newly made section of the material. The dies and punches are needed to be made of tool steel to withstand the repetitious nature of the procedure.
Nibbling
The nibbling process cuts a contour by producing a series of overlapping slits or notches. This allows for complex shapes to be formed in sheet metal up to 6 mm (0.25 in) thick using simple tools. The nibbler is essentially a small punch and die that reciprocates quickly; around 300–900 times per minute. Punches are available in various shape and sizes; oblong and rectangular punches are common because they minimize waste and allow for greater distances between strokes, as compared to a round punch. Nibbling can occur on the exterior or interior of the material, however interior cuts require a hole to insert the tool.
The process is often used on parts that do not have quantities that can justify a dedicated blanking die. The edge smoothness is determined by the shape of the cutting die and the amount the cuts overlap; naturally the more the cuts overlap the cleaner the edge. For added accuracy and smoothness most shapes created by nibbling undergo filing or grinding processes after completion.

Shaving
The shaving process is a finish operation where a small amount of metal is sheared away from an already blanked part. Its main purpose is to obtain better dimensional accuracy, but secondary purposes include squaring the edge and smoothing the edge. Blanked parts can be shaved to an accuracy of up to 0.025 mm (0.001 in).

Cutoff
The cutoff process is used to separate a stamping or other product from a strip or stock. This operation is very common with progressive die sequences. The cutoff operation often produces the periphery counter to the workpiece.