Leadless electronic parts or the like are transferred from hoppers under the influence of gravity or by forced air through tubes of polygonal cross-section to a prepositioning template. The polygonal cross sections of the transferring tubes tend to damp out oscillatory motion of the parts and to speed their travel through the tubes. Each polygonal, preferably triangular, tube is preferably obtained by deforming a tube of circular cross-section in a forming machine including a plurality of discs arranged so that their peripheries define a polygonal space therebetween through which the tube of circular cross section is driven.