The processing of the perforating zone in strips is characteristic of this type of press as the tools have a working width of only 250mm or 400mm. This means that a rectangular perforation field must be processed in several "strips". On the other hand, of course, punchers offer a higher degree of flexibility. They can produce any kind of perforation field pattern. Only sheet metal is suitable as a starting material.

Hydraulically actuated chucks hold the sheet in place and move it in the X- and Y-axes under the tool. Gagbars, which successively expose or cover the tool's individual punches, are mounted above the tool. On one hand, this allows a high degree of flexibility in respect of the perimeter form of the perforated field, and on the other a high speed is achieved through the software-controlled simultaneous actuation of several punches.

This type of machine is thus highly suitable for small batch sizes requiring a high degree of flexibility. As these tools are very short in comparison to those used in open-width presses, the tool costs are relatively low.