A dynamic explicit finite element code for simulating sheet forming processes has been developed. The code utilizes the discrete Kirchhoff shell element and contact force is treated by a conventional penalty method. In order to reduce the computational cost, a new and robust contact searching algorithm has been developed and implemented into the code. In the method, a hierarchical structure of tool segments is built for each tool at the initial stage of the analysis. hierarchical structure is built in a way to divide a box to 8 sub-boxes, 2 in each direction, until the lowest level of the hierarchical structure contains exactly one segment of the tool or empty. Then at each time step, contact is checked from the box to sub-boxes hierarchically for each node. Comparisons of computational results of various examples with the existing ones show the validity of the method.