Southern Machinery S7020T Chapter 2: Machine Start-Up Inspection and Start-Up Checklist for THT Terminal Insertion

Most through-hole insertion defects are not created by the machine. They are created before the machine does any work — by a start-up that was rushed, skipped, or done differently by each shift.

Chapter 2 of Southern Machinery's S7020T training series walks through machine start-up inspection and start-up on a THT PIN / eyelet / terminal insertion machine. It is the 73-second companion to Chapter 1: what an operator should physically verify before the machine is handed a single board, and how the machine is brought to a production-ready state once it is powered.

This article is written for the people who have to make that routine work on a real line — process engineers, DIP supervisors, maintenance planners and the buyers specifying the equipment in the first place.

The training chapter is embedded below.

Direct link: watch Chapter 2 of the S7020T training series on YouTube

What is this machine used for?

The machine in this chapter is the S7020T, 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: it takes PINs, eyelets and terminals — supplied in bulk in a vibration bowl feeder or on reel — and inserts them into through-hole positions on a PCB at the programmed X/Y coordinates, then clinches the lead so the part stays in the board on its way to wave soldering.

In practical terms, it replaces the manual operation where an operator picks a terminal or eyelet by hand, drops it into a hole, checks the orientation, and clinches it with a hand tool or a separate machine. That manual step is slow, ergonomically punishing, and inconsistent between operators — and it is one of the last remainders of hand labour on an otherwise automated DIP line.

Documented platform figures for the S7020 Series (2-head configuration) are:

| Parameter | Documented |

|---|---|

| Speed | 12,000 CPH class |

| Insertion heads | 2 |

| Component packaging | Bulk (vibration bowl) or reel |

| 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 |

| 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 the machine's capabilities. Start-up inspection is what confirms that this morning, on this board, the machine is actually operating to them.

What "start-up inspection and start-up" actually covers

On a THT insertion machine, the start-up routine is not a single button. It is a chain of checks that ends in either a green light or a decision to stop. A practical sequence looks like this:

Pre-power inspection (machine off). Before the controller is energised: confirm the head, jaws and X/Y table are clear of tools, loose terminals, board offcuts and debris; check guarding and all safety interlocks are in place and undamaged; test the emergency stop function; inspect the feeder bowl, track and rails for burrs, bent terminals or leftover material from the previous shift; confirm tooling pins, board location hardware and clamps are secure; check the air preparation unit for correct supply, pressure and a drained water trap; and confirm no unauthorised intervention or loose fastener is visible from the previous evening's maintenance.
Power-up and homing. Energise the controller and let it complete its boot and self-check, then return the head and the X/Y table to their reference/home position. Homing confirms that the machine's coordinate system is real — every program that runs afterwards is measured from that reference, so a homing failure or an incomplete homing cycle must never be ignored.
Safety and pneumatic enable. Bring air on, enable the servos/drives, and confirm the safety circuit is satisfied before the machine is allowed to run in automatic. Until that is verified, the machine should be in manual or step mode only.
Program and job data recall. Recall the correct program for the work order, confirm the revision shown matches the setup sheet, and verify the board origin and mark-point (fiducial) data. A wrong program revision is a silent defect generator: the machine inserts perfectly, in the wrong places.
Feeder and material verification. Load and verify the terminal in the feeder — bowl or reel per the setup sheet — and confirm the part number and that lead condition matches. Terminal thickness must sit inside the documented range (>= 0.5 mm, <= 1.2 mm), and where a different terminal has been set up, the corresponding feeder, track and jaw tooling must match it.
Dry run / first-cycle observation. Run a cycle with no board, or with a sacrificial board, and watch the whole motion: head travel, pick-up from the feeder, approach, insertion, and clinch. This is where an operator hears a change in noise, sees a part sit high in the jaw, or catches a scrape that would otherwise appear on 200 boards before anyone noticed.
First-board approval. Insert the first production board and verify it physically, not visually from a distance: insert height consistency, insertion angle and vertical error, clinch direction (inward or outward as specified), body spacing against the documented 2 mm minimum, and hole-to-lead clearance relative to the 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm requirement. Release the board to wave soldering only after that check.
Record it. Log the result — machine state, program revision, terminal part number, who performed the check, and any deviation. The value of a start-up checklist is mostly in the second column: the deviations it captures before they become a batch.

The full cycle is worth understanding as one loop: start-up inspection and start-up (Chapters 1 and 2), main parameter settings and maintenance (Chapter 3), shutdown process operations (Chapter 4) and head insertion position correction (Chapter 5). Each one assumes the state the previous one left behind.

Typical applications

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

Power tools. Terminal blocks and blade terminals on motor control and switch PCBA, where vibration makes joint integrity a safety-relevant characteristic rather than a cosmetic one.
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.
Power supply and ballast assemblies. Vehicle power supplies, energy-saving power supplies and lighting ballasts, where through-hole terminals carry the incoming and outgoing wiring.
LED lighting and driver boards. Driver PCBA, LED light bars and luminous-character modules, including terminal insertion on LED metal-core (MCPCB) work where downstream depaneling is handled by a separator such as the S-D601.
Mixed-model EMS / DIP assembly. Contract manufacturing environments running many small-to-medium DIP builds, where changeover frequency makes the discipline of a repeatable start-up routine the difference between a stable line and a line that is always chasing a defect.

How it fits into a complete PCB assembly line

The S7020 Series does not run alone, and it does not run first. Its start-up routine assumes the output of the stages before it and the readiness of the stages after it.

SMT side first. Solder paste printing, SPI, pick-and-place and reflow build the SMD side of the board. Southern Machinery's catalogue covers this stage, including stencil printing equipment and the SME800 stencil cleaning machine that keeps print quality stable.
Component preparation. Radial taping and lead-forming equipment, bulk capacitor taping with polarity check, and lead cut-and-form machines convert bulk components into a feedable, correctly oriented form. A start-up problem upstream shows up as a feed problem at the inserter.
THT insertion block. This is where the S7020 Series sits, alongside the S-3010B and S3000 radial inserters for radial parts, the S-70LD odd-form inserter for connectors, relays and transformers, and the S7020T terminal-insertion configuration for PINs, eyelets and terminals.
Soldering and lead finishing. Inserted boards move into lead-free wave soldering — the S-WS450 or the PC-controlled dual-wave S-WS350B — and then to lead cutting. A machine that started up correctly and clinched correctly arrives at the wave with parts sitting flat and leads protruding to a consistent length; a machine that did not produces solder defects the wave gets blamed for.
Cleaning and depaneling. Stencil and pallet cleaning machines (SME800, SME-5200), PCB cleaning, and MCPCB separators (S-D601) each have their own start-up routine — and they are equally dependent on the day's first check.
Inspection. 3D SPI / AOI and X-ray equipment verify the result; the start-up and first-board checks are what keep inspection from becoming the place where defects are found out rather than prevented.
Board handling. Magazine loaders and unloaders, bridge and inspection conveyors, PCB turnover machines and reject conveyors move boards between these stages. SMEMA-compatible handling is what lets the inserter accept boards from a loader and hand them to a conveyor without an operator standing in the middle.
Support ecosystem. Spare parts for multi-brand SMT equipment, in-house SMT nozzle design and manufacture, repair, retrofit and operator/maintenance training, plus 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 — new build or line expansion — the start-up routine is a surprisingly useful lens for evaluating the equipment, because it shows you how much of your daily productivity depends on machine design rather than on operator heroics.

Documented, verifiable machine data (S7020 Series, 2-head configuration): the 12,000 CPH class speed, 2 insertion heads, 360 degree insertion angle in 1 degree increments, 0.001 mm/pulse motion accuracy, <= 0.8 degrees vertical error, terminal thickness range >= 0.5 mm and <= 1.2 mm, PCB size 380 mm x 280 mm (enlarged sizes customisable), minimum body distance 2 mm, inward/outward clinch selection, bowl or reel feeding, 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.* The order of steps, 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 site's Lockout/Tagout policy can actually be applied.
Air quality and pneumatics. Terminal insertion depends on reliable air. Confirm the air specification and the filtration/drying expectation up front rather than discovering it as a feed problem.
Homing and reference design. Does the machine return to a defined reference reliably 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 re-used across machines? A plant that can standardise programs across machines can standardise start-up times across shifts.
Operator-level access. Can an operator reach the feeder track, jaws and insertion area for the daily check without dismantling the machine or calling a technician?
Training depth. Will your own operators and maintenance technicians be trained to perform start-up, first-board approval and basic correction, or does every adjustment become a service call?
Spare-part coverage. Jaw guides, springs, pusher tips, rollers, belts and tooling pins are wear items. Confirm availability and lead time before you need them, not during a stoppage.

Never accept a catalogue number you cannot see documented, and never let a supplier quote a capability the manual does not describe.

ROI and quality perspective

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

Defect cost is asymmetrical. A tipped, bent or unclenched terminal caught at the insertion station costs a re-insert. The same defect caught after wave soldering costs a rework board, a touch-up operator, and often a solder joint that will never be as reliable as the original. The same defect caught at final test or in the field costs a return. A ten-minute morning check is priced against all three.
The first boards of a shift are the expensive ones. Almost every line has a "warm-up scrap" pattern. Most of it is not thermal — it is a machine that was not verified before it started producing.
Rework on terminals is especially expensive. Eyelets and terminals are mechanical joints. A badly clinched part cannot simply be reflowed into compliance; it has to be removed without damaging the hole, the pad or the plating, and re-inserted.
Downtime hides in the middle of the shift. A machine that started up with a marginal feeder, a dull jaw or a drifted reference does not stop. It produces boards that reach AOI or test, where a corrective action taken at 07:00 becomes a rework queue at 15:00.
Tooling life and spare-part spend. A head run out of alignment, or a machine run without its start-up checks, loads jaw guides, rollers and anvils unevenly. Wear-part consumption is one of the most legible cost lines on a THT machine, and it responds directly to operating discipline.
Training replaces dependency. A documented start-up routine plus trained operators converts a recurring service dependency into a ten-minute shift task. That is a capacity gain, not just a cost saving.
First-pass yield compounds. Correct program revision, verified feed, consistent insert height and a confirmed clinch are what let a board pass wave soldering, lead cutting and inspection first time — which is where the actual margin on a mixed-model DIP build lives.

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

FAQ

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

It is the sequence performed at the beginning of a shift or after any intervention, before the machine is released to production: a pre-power inspection of guarding, interlocks, E-stop, feeder and tooling condition and air supply; power-up and homing of the head and X/Y table; safety and pneumatic enable; recall and verification of the correct program revision with the work order; feeder and material verification; a dry run or first-cycle observation; a first-board check of insert height, insertion angle, clinch direction and body spacing; and a log entry recording the result.

Why does homing matter so much on a THT insertion machine?

Every insertion coordinate in the program is measured from the machine's reference position. If the head or table does not return to a true reference, the machine will still cycle and still insert — just with a positional error that scales with distance from the origin. The result is a board that looks inserted and fails mechanically. That is why homing completes before automatic mode is enabled.

What should be checked on the first board of the shift?

Insert height consistency, insertion angle and vertical error, clinch direction against the specification (the S7020 Series supports inward and outward clinching), spacing between adjacent components against the documented 2 mm minimum, and the fit of the lead in the hole relative to the documented requirement that the insertion hole be 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm larger than the component lead. Verify physically on the board, not from the operator interface.

Can an operator perform start-up, or does it require a technician?

The routine sequence — inspection, power-up, homing, program recall, material verification, dry run and first-board check — is written to be operator-accessible. Anything beyond that, 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 according to local procedures.

Does a start-up check need to be repeated after a changeover?

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

Where do the other chapters fit?

Southern Machinery's S7020T training series treats the machine as one cycle: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 cover start-up inspection and start-up, Chapter 3 covers main parameter settings and maintenance, Chapter 4 covers machine shutdown process operations, and Chapter 5 covers correcting the machine's head insertion position. A start-up checklist is only as good as the shutdown state the previous shift left behind.

Is the machine's documented speed achievable in production?

The S7020 Series is documented at the 12,000 CPH class in a 2-head configuration. Real throughput on a specific board depends on insertion points per board, component mix, feeder arrangement, changeover frequency and handling speed — which is exactly the kind of thing that should be calculated against your board rather than assumed from a datasheet. Southern Machinery can work through that calculation with your Gerber data and board samples.

Contact Southern Machinery

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

For help with a start-up and first-board approval routine, an S7020 Series configuration, a feeder or terminal tooling question, 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

Watch the full S7020T training series on the Southern Machinery YouTube channel, including Chapter 1 (start-up inspection and start-up), Chapter 2 (start-up inspection and start-up), Chapter 3 (main parameter settings and maintenance), Chapter 4 (machine shutdown process operations) and Chapter 5 (head insertion position correction).