Southern Machinery S7020T Chapter 1: Machine Start-Up Inspection and Start-Up — Building the Shift-Start Routine for a THT Terminal Insertion Machine

A terminal insertion machine does not fail in the middle of a shift. It fails in the first ten minutes of one — and then spends the rest of the day producing boards that pass the machine and fail somewhere downstream.

Chapter 1 of Southern Machinery's S7020T training series is where that ten minutes is defined. It is a compact 45-second short demo titled machine start-up inspection and start-up, and it is the entry point to a five-part series that takes an operator from "machine is off" to "machine is producing approved boards" and back again. This article is written for the people who have to make that routine real on the floor: DIP supervisors, process engineers, maintenance planners, training coordinators — and the buyers who are specifying the equipment in the first place and want to know what day one of ownership actually looks like.

The training chapter is embedded below.

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Direct link: watch Chapter 1 of the S7020T training series on YouTube

What is this machine used for?

The S7020T is the terminal-insertion configuration of Southern Machinery's S7020 Series PIN Eyelet Terminal Insertion Machine. It is a THT (through-hole technology) automatic insertion machine: PINs, eyelets and terminals are presented from a vibration bowl feeder or from reel, the head picks them, inserts them at the programmed X/Y coordinates on a PCB, and clinches the lead so the part stays mechanically seated on its way to wave soldering.

Buyer-oriented version: this machine exists to delete a manual operation. On most mixed-model DIP lines there is still a person picking a terminal or eyelet out of a bin, orienting it by eye, dropping it into a hole and clinching it with a hand tool. That operation is slow, ergonomically hard on the operator, and inconsistent between shifts — and because terminals and eyelets are mechanical joints, an inconsistency there cannot be reflowed back into compliance later.

Documented platform figures for the S7020 Series (2-head configuration), as published on the S7020 Series product page:

| Parameter | Documented |

|---|---|

| Speed | 12,000 CPH class |

| Insertion heads | 2 |

| Material packaging | Bulk package or reel package |

| Feeding system | Vibration bowl feeder / reel feeder |

| Terminal thickness | >= 0.5 mm and <= 1.2 mm |

| Insertion angle | 360 degrees (increment 1 degree) |

| Vertical error | <= 0.8 degrees |

| Motion accuracy | 0.001 mm/pulse |

| PCB size | 380 mm x 280 mm (enlarged sizes customisable) |

| PCB requirement | Insertion hole 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm larger than the component lead |

| Body distance | Distance between components >= 2 mm |

| Clinch | Inward clinching / outward clinching |

| Programming | Online visual programming, visual correction, EXCEL |

| Data import | USB interface import, manual entry |

| Power | Single 220 V AC, 50/60 Hz, 2 kVA |

| Equipment size | 1700 mm x 1300 mm x 1600 mm (2 heads) |

| Equipment weight | 1200 kg |

Those are capability figures. Chapter 1 is about the discipline that makes them true on a specific morning, on a specific board.

What Chapter 1 covers — and why it is the first chapter

The series title of Chapter 1 — machine start-up inspection and start-up — is deliberate about the order. Inspection first, start-up second. The routine does not begin when the controller is switched on. It begins with a physical walk-around of a machine that is still powered down, because most of what causes a bad first shift is visible before anything is energised.

The pre-power inspection (machine off). Clear the head, jaws and X/Y table of tools, loose terminals, board offcuts and debris from the previous shift. Confirm guarding and safety interlocks are present, undamaged and correctly seated, and that the emergency stop function is tested rather than assumed. Inspect the feeder bowl, track and rails for burrs, bent terminals or leftover material. Confirm tooling pins, board location hardware and clamps are secure. Check the air preparation unit for supply, pressure and a drained water trap. Look for anything that signals an intervention from the previous evening's maintenance that was not signed off.

Start-up (machine on). Energise the controller, let the boot and self-check complete, and return the head and X/Y table to their reference/home position. Bring air on and enable the drives, confirming the safety circuit is satisfied before the machine is allowed to run in automatic. Recall the correct program for the work order, confirm the revision matches the setup sheet, and verify board origin and fiducial data. Verify the terminal in the feeder against the setup sheet, including lead condition and thickness inside the documented range. Run a dry cycle or a sacrificial board and watch the whole motion — head travel, pick-up, approach, insertion, clinch. Then insert the first production board and approve it physically, not from a distance: insert height consistency, insertion angle, clinch direction (the platform supports inward and outward clinching), body spacing against the documented 2 mm minimum. Release the board to wave soldering only after that check passes.

Why this has to be Chapter 1. Every later chapter assumes the state this one leaves behind. Parameter settings (Chapter 3) are only meaningful if the machine was homed correctly. Shutdown (Chapter 4) is only meaningful if the machine was verified at the start. Head insertion position correction (Chapter 5) is unnecessary on a machine that was inspected properly — and dangerous on a machine that was not, because the operator will be correcting a symptom rather than a cause.

Turning the series into a shift-start SOP

A training video is not a procedure. It becomes one when a plant writes down the version of it that applies to their machine, their terminal and their escalation rules. A practical way to use the five chapters:

| Chapter | What it governs on your line | What it becomes in your document set |

|---|---|---|

| 1 — start-up inspection and start-up | Machine condition before power and first-board release | Shift-start checklist + first-board approval record |

| 2 — start-up inspection and start-up (extended) | The full start-up chain and its verification steps | Detailed start-up SOP with sign-off fields |

| 3 — main parameter settings and maintenance | Parameter integrity and planned maintenance | Parameter backup record + PM schedule |

| 4 — machine shutdown process operations | How the shift is handed over | End-of-shift shutdown checklist |

| 5 — head insertion position correction | Correcting position error when it occurs | Correction authorisation + verification record |

The test of a good document set is whether a new operator can run the first shift alone with it, and whether a deviation is written down where a supervisor can see it. If the answer to either is no, the routine is still a habit rather than a process.

For the operator-level detail of each step, the companion articles are already published: the Chapter 2 start-up and start-up checklist, Chapter 3 parameter settings and maintenance, Chapter 4 shutdown process operations and Chapter 5 head insertion position correction.

Typical applications

PIN, eyelet and terminal insertion appears wherever a board needs a mechanical interface that surface mount cannot provide: a screw or wire terminal, an eyelet, a pressed pin that takes a connector or carries current. Documented application references for the S7020 Series include:

1. Power tools. Terminal blocks and blade terminals on motor control and switch PCBA, where vibration and user abuse make joint integrity a safety-relevant characteristic, not a cosmetic one.
2. Home appliance control boards. Air conditioner, rice cooker, induction cooker, microwave and washing machine control PCBA, where screw terminals, eyelets and wire-entry pins are still the interface to the harness.
3. Power supply and ballast assemblies. Vehicle power supplies, energy-saving power supplies and lighting ballasts, where the incoming and outgoing wiring lands on through-hole terminals.
4. LED lighting and driver boards. Driver PCBA, LED light bars and luminous-character modules, including terminals on metal-core PCB work where downstream depaneling is handled by a separator such as the S-D601.
5. Mixed-model EMS / DIP assembly. Contract manufacturers running many small and medium DIP builds, where changeover frequency means the start-up routine — not machine speed — decides whether the line is stable.

How it fits into a complete PCB assembly line

The S7020T never runs first and never realises its value alone. A start-up routine is only as good as the readiness of the stages around it.

• SMT side first. Solder paste printing, SPI, pick-and-place and reflow build the SMD side. Southern Machinery's catalogue covers this block, including stencil printing equipment and the SME800 stencil cleaning machine that keeps print quality stable shift to shift.
• Component preparation. Radial taping, capacitor taping with polarity check, and lead cut-and-form machines convert bulk components into a feedable, correctly oriented form. A preparation error upstream surfaces as a feeder problem at the inserter — usually blamed on the inserter.
• THT insertion block. This is where the S7020 Series sits, alongside the S-3010B and S3000 radial inserters for radial parts and the S-70LD odd-form inserter for connectors, relays and transformers. Terminals, eyelets and PINs go to the S7020T configuration.
• Soldering and lead finishing. Inserted boards move into lead-free wave soldering — the S-WS450 or the PC-controlled dual-wave S-WS350B — then to lead cutting. A machine that started up verified and clinched correctly arrives at the wave with parts flat and lead protrusion consistent. A machine that did not produces solder defects the wave gets blamed for.
• Cleaning and depaneling. Stencil and pallet cleaning (SME800, SME-5200), PCB cleaning and MCPCB separators (S-D601) each have their own start-up routine and their own first-board check.
• Inspection. 3D SPI / AOI and X-ray detection verify the result. Start-up and first-board approval are what stop inspection from being the place where defects are discovered instead of prevented.
• Board handling. Magazine loaders and unloaders, bridge and inspection conveyors, PCB turnover machines and reject conveyors move boards between stages. SMEMA-compatible handling is what allows the inserter to take boards from a loader and hand them on without an operator standing in the middle of the line.
• Support ecosystem. Spare parts for multi-brand SMT equipment, in-house SMT nozzle design and manufacture, repair and retrofit kits, overhaul and operator/maintenance training, and the SMT/THT machine operation manual library are what keep all of the above running across shifts and machine generations.

Key selection parameters

If you are specifying a THT terminal insertion machine, the start-up routine is a useful lens for evaluating it — because it exposes how much of your daily output depends on machine design rather than on operator heroics.

Documented, verifiable machine data (S7020 Series, 2-head configuration): 12,000 CPH class speed, 2 insertion heads, bulk or reel material packaging, vibration bowl / reel feeding, terminal thickness >= 0.5 mm and <= 1.2 mm, 360 degree insertion angle in 1 degree increments, <= 0.8 degrees vertical error, 0.001 mm/pulse motion accuracy, PCB size 380 mm x 280 mm (enlarged sizes customisable), insertion hole 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm larger than the component lead, minimum body distance 2 mm, inward/outward clinch selection, online visual programming with visual correction and EXCEL data, USB import or manual entry, single 220 V / 2 kVA power, 1700 x 1300 x 1600 mm footprint and 1200 kg weight.

What to confirm beyond the datasheet:

• A written start-up and start-up inspection procedure for your configuration — step order, what "ready" looks like, and who is authorised to release the machine to production.
• Safety and isolation provisions — guarding, interlocks, E-stop, and lockable power and air isolation so your Lockout/Tagout policy can actually be applied.
• Air quality expectations — terminal insertion depends on reliable pneumatics. Agree the air specification and filtration/drying requirement up front instead of discovering it as a feed problem.
• Homing and reference reporting — does the machine return reliably to a defined reference and report it clearly, so a failed homing is visible rather than silent?
• Program portability and backup — can programs and parameter sets be built visually, held as EXCEL data, imported over USB, exported and reused across machines? Plants that standardise programs also standardise start-up times.
• Operator-level access — can the operator reach the feeder track, jaws and insertion area for the daily check without dismantling the machine or calling a technician?
• Training depth and documentation — will your operators and maintenance technicians be trained to perform start-up, first-board approval and basic correction, and do you receive manuals, drawings and videos suitable for building internal training material?
• Spare-part coverage — jaw guides, springs, pusher tips, rollers, belts and tooling pins are wear items. Confirm availability and lead time before a stoppage, not during one.
• Tooling flexibility — how much of the terminal, eyelet and PIN family you intend to run on one machine, and what tooling change involves.

Never accept a capability that is not documented somewhere you can point at, and never accept a start-up procedure that only exists in one operator's head.

ROI and quality perspective

Start-up discipline is one of the few quality interventions in a DIP line that costs almost nothing per unit and fails in a measurable way.

• The defect cost curve is steep and asymmetrical. A tipped, bent or unclenched terminal caught at the insertion station costs a re-insert. Caught after wave soldering it costs a rework board, a touch-up operator, and often a joint that will never be as reliable as the original. Caught at final test or in the field it costs a return. A ten-minute morning check is priced against all three.
• The first boards of a shift are the expensive ones. Most "warm-up scrap" is not thermal. It is a machine that was producing before it was verified.
• Terminal rework is disproportionately expensive. Eyelets and terminals are mechanical joints; a badly clinched part has to be removed without damaging the hole, the pad or the plating, and re-inserted. There is no reflow shortcut.
• Downtime hides in the middle of the shift. A machine that started with a marginal feeder, a dull jaw or a drifted reference does not stop — it produces boards that only reveal themselves at AOI or test, where a correction that should have happened at 07:00 becomes a rework queue at 15:00.
• Wear-part spend responds to operating discipline. A head run out of alignment, or a machine run without its checks, loads jaw guides, rollers and anvils unevenly. On a THT machine, wear-part consumption is one of the most legible cost lines you have.
• Training converts dependency into capacity. A documented start-up routine plus trained operators turns a recurring service dependency into a ten-minute shift task. On a two-shift operation that is roughly a working week of recovered capacity per year per machine.
• First-pass yield compounds. Correct program revision, verified feed, consistent insert height and a confirmed clinch are what let a board clear wave soldering, lead cutting and inspection the first time through — which is exactly where the margin in mixed-model DIP assembly lives.

Model it with your own numbers: boards per shift, insertion points per board, first-of-shift scrap and rework rate, unplanned stoppages traced to conditions present at start-up, and hours per month lost to reprogramming and re-homing. In most plants the arithmetic favours a written start-up routine long before it favours another machine.

FAQ

What is "machine start-up inspection and start-up" on an S7020T terminal insertion machine?

It is the routine performed at the beginning of a shift, or after any intervention or changeover, before the machine is released to production. Inspection comes first, on a powered-down machine: guarding, interlocks and E-stop function, head/jaw/table cleanliness, feeder bowl and track condition, tooling security, and air supply. Start-up follows: power-up and homing of the head and X/Y table, safety and pneumatic enable, program revision recall against the work order, feeder and terminal verification, a dry or sacrificial cycle, then physical first-board approval of insert height, insertion angle, clinch direction and body spacing.

Why does Chapter 1 come before the parameter and maintenance chapters?

Because every later step assumes the machine's physical and positional state is known. Parameter settings are only meaningful on a machine that homed correctly, and shutdown discipline is only meaningful if the machine was verified at the start. Skipping the inspection stage means the later chapters are being used to correct symptoms instead of maintain a process.

How long should a start-up inspection take?

That depends on your configuration, terminal type and escalation rules, and it should be measured on your own line rather than quoted from a supplier. The useful design target is that the routine is complete before the first production board is processed, and short enough that a busy operator will not skip it under pressure.

Can an operator complete the routine, or does it need a technician?

The sequence — inspection, power-up, homing, program recall, material verification, dry run, first-board check — is written to be operator-accessible. Anything beyond it, such as dismantling the head, adjusting casting height or jaw guides, correcting insertion position or opening an electrical cabinet, is maintenance work and requires power-down plus Lockout/Tagout per local procedure.

Does the routine need to be repeated after a changeover?

Yes. Any change of terminal, feeder, board, tooling or program reintroduces every variable the routine exists to catch. Practically, the first-board approval step should be repeated after every terminal-type or board-type changeover even if the machine was never switched off.

Is the training series enough to qualify new operators?

The series is a practical visual reference for machine operation and covers start-up, parameters and maintenance, shutdown and head position correction. It is not a substitute for your own documented procedure, hands-on training by a qualified trainer, and a signed competency record for your specific machine configuration and products. Southern Machinery supplies training, manuals and documentation to support that internal qualification process.

Where can buyers get the full technical documentation?

The S7020 Series specification table is published on smthelp.com. Catalogues, 3D drawings, manuals and documents are available from file.autoinsertion.com, and machine and configuration photos are on ph.smthelp.com.

Contact Southern Machinery

Southern Machinery (Shenzhen, China; established 2011; 237+ global customers) builds SMT, THT and PCB assembly automation — insertion machines, wave soldering, board handling, cleaning, inspection, and the spare parts, training, retrofit and service ecosystem around them.

For help with a start-up routine, a first-board approval standard, an S7020 Series configuration, terminal or eyelet tooling, or the full THT insertion block of your line, contact the team:

• Email: [jasonwu@smthelp.com](mailto:jasonwu@smthelp.com)
• Website: www.smthelp.com
• Catalogs, manuals & documents: file.autoinsertion.com
• Product images: ph.smthelp.com
• Machine operation manuals & training: SMT/THT machine operation manual library on smthelp.com

This article is the Chapter 1 entry in Southern Machinery's S7020T training series coverage. The complete series runs from Chapter 1 (machine start-up inspection and start-up) through Chapter 2 (start-up inspection and start-up, extended), Chapter 3 (main parameter settings and maintenance), Chapter 4 (machine shutdown process operations) and Chapter 5 (head insertion position correction).