A positioning assembly (30) for positioning a sheet material, especially at an entry portion of a sheet material processing machine, is described. It comprises a support beam (32) on which at least a portion of a sheet material to be positioned can be placed and a plurality of clamping fingers (38). The support beam (32) is coupled to a drive unit (60) configured for translationally moving the support beam (32) along a travelling direction (y) of the sheet material, translationally moving the support beam (32) along a direction (x) transverse to the travelling direction (y) and rotationally moving the support beam (32) with respect to a pivot axis (z) being perpendicular to the traveling direction (y) and the transverse direction (x). Each of the clamping fingers (38) is coupled to an individual clamping finger actuation unit (40). Moreover, a sheet material processing machine comprising such a positioning assembly (30) is presented.