Here we go, the professional has entered the comments.

The strength of PEM nuts is so much better than rivnuts. I designed parts for a missle system that had to be transported, and possibly air dropped, and rivnuts were not going to work when you have to handle 20g.

I had to knock a few of these out of sheet-metal case and man I did not expect that kind of resistance from something with such a tiny contact area in 0.8 mm sheet metal.

It’s wild how strong they are.

But it seems you need a tool that can apply a force from two sides of the plate. This is not easy if the plate is large and the hole is in the middle.

That’s true, but people put rivnuts all over the place where they aren’t blind. PEM is a much better choice when it’s not blind.

Used to use PEM nuts for mounting industrial controls onto panels.

Worked at a place that made the enclosures for industrial controls and we used PEM for all the standoffs.

Here's a pretty cool video I found on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3eBtuGlqSo

Isn't a far simpler solution to use a big hammer? I assume the momentary force from a hammer is tens of thousands of lbs?

No, it causes instantaneous shock force whereas the PEM studs require a gradual increase in force to be properly inserted. Hydraulic press is a better option.

For most applications, I prefer PEM over Rivet Nuts but sometimes Hex Rivet Nuts do the magic better! For PEMs, we use Haeger 824 Plus insertion press.