Blanking and
piercing are
shearing processes in which a
punch and
die are used to modify
webs. The tooling and processes are the same between the two, only the terminology is different: in blanking the punched out piece is used and called a
blank; in piercing the punched out piece is scrap. The process for parts manufactured simultaneously with both techniques is often termed "pierce and blank." An alternative name of piercing is
punching.