Southern Machinery S7020T Odd Form Insertion Machine: Reel Terminal & Radial Taped THT Assembly

Southern Machinery S7020T Odd Form Insertion Machine — reel terminal and radial taped THT insertion for smart EMS factory PCB assembly

Odd-form components are the parts that keep manual insertion stations alive in otherwise automated EMS factories: reel-fed terminals, radial taped capacitors and transistors, pins, and eyelet terminals that standard radial inserters and SMT lines cannot touch. The Southern Machinery S7020T odd form insertion machine from the S7020 series is built to close that gap — automatically feeding terminals from reel packaging and radial taped components, inserting them into the PCB with 360° angular control, and clinching them in place at up to 12,000 CPH.

Watch the machine in action:

What is this machine used for?

The S7020T is an automated through-hole (THT) insertion machine for odd-form components — parts that do not fit the standard radial or axial component formats. Its defining capability, as the demo video shows, is handling two packaging types that commonly stall automation projects:

Reel-fed terminals — pin, eyelet, and similar terminal types supplied in reel packaging. Reel feeding removes the need for bulk handling and keeps the machine running for long unattended stretches, which is exactly what a smart EMS factory wants from a terminal insertion process.
Radial taped components — parts delivered on radial tape (the classic capacitor/transistor tape format), inserted with the same precision and clinch quality as the terminals.

In practice, the S7020T replaces a manual station where an operator picks, orients, inserts, and (often) hand-clinches odd-form parts one board at a time. The machine does the orientation (360° at 1° increments), the insertion (vertical error ≤ 0.8°), and the clinching (inward or outward) automatically, at a rated speed of 12,000 CPH with two insertion heads. Programming is done online with visual correction, with data importable via USB or Excel — so a new board program is set up on the machine, not in a separate offline system.

Typical applications

Odd-form terminals and radial taped parts show up across virtually every THT product line. Realistic scenarios where the S7020T earns its place:

Power supply and adapter assembly — pin and eyelet terminals for transformers, bridge rectifiers, and AC input connectors, where terminal quality directly affects electrical reliability and solder joint integrity.
Home appliance control boards — rice cookers, induction cookers, microwaves, and air conditioner controllers that mix SMD logic with THT power components, including radial taped capacitors and reel-fed terminal blocks.
LED driver and lighting boards — inserting power terminals and radial taped electrolytic capacitors onto LED driver PCBs before wave soldering.
Automotive and industrial electronics — connector pins, relay pins, and fuse-holder terminals on boards that must survive vibration, where a mechanically clinched joint matters more than on consumer goods.
EMS mixed-model production — any factory running frequent changeovers on boards of different sizes, since the S7020 series supports PCBs up to 380 × 280 mm standard (enlarged sizes customizable) and programs boards quickly via visual programming and USB/Excel import.

How it fits into a complete PCB assembly line

The S7020T is a THT-cell machine, and it is designed to sit inside the through-hole portion of a mixed SMT/THT line — the architecture most EMS factories run today:

SMT front end — solder paste printing (with stencil cleaning), SPI, chip placement, reflow, and AOI handle the surface-mount content.
THT insertion cell — radial components go through a radial auto inserter such as the S-3010B series; odd-form parts too large or non-standard for radial machines go through an odd form inserter. The S7020T covers the reel terminal and radial taped segment of that odd-form workload, working alongside vision-guided odd form platforms like the S-70LD for larger, more complex parts.
Soldering — boards with inserted THT parts pass through a lead-free wave soldering machine (e.g., the S-WS350B dual wave), where the clinched terminals hold components firmly in place during the solder wave.
Downstream support — board handling systems feed boards into and out of the THT cell, and cleaning and depaneling equipment completes the line. Southern Machinery supplies the full ecosystem — insertion, wave soldering, board handling, cleaning, and spare parts — so the THT cell can be planned as one coherent system rather than a collection of orphan machines.

Because the S7020T handles its own feeding from reel and radial tape, it integrates into the material flow of a smart factory: fewer bulk-terminal tubs on the floor, longer autonomous runs, and stable cycle times that make line balancing predictable.

Key selection parameters

If you are evaluating an odd form insertion machine for reel terminals and radial taped components, these are the parameters that matter — with the verified S7020 series figures where applicable:

Component packaging supported — confirm the machine feeds both reel terminals and radial taped parts. The S7020 series supports terminals in bulk or reel packages with a vibration bowl feeder and/or reel feeder.
Terminal dimensions — the S7020 series handles terminal thickness from ≥ 0.5 mm to ≤ 1.2 mm. Verify your terminal range against this envelope.
Speed and head configuration — the S7020 series is rated at 12,000 CPH with two insertion heads standard; head count can be configured to match throughput needs.
PCB size range — standard 380 × 280 mm on the S7020 series, with enlarged sizes customizable — confirm your largest board fits.
Insertion angle flexibility — 360° at 1° increments on the S7020 series, which matters when terminals must be oriented differently on the same board.
Clinch capability — inward and outward clinching, so the joint is mechanically locked before wave soldering.
PCB design rules — the S7020 series requires the insertion hole to be 0.5 ± 0.1 mm larger than the component lead, and ≥ 2 mm body-to-body distance between components — worth checking against your existing layouts before quoting.
Programming and data import — online visual programming, visual correction, and Excel/USB import shorten changeover time.
Facility requirements — the S7020 series footprint is 1700 × 1300 × 1600 mm, 1200 kg, single-phase 220 V AC 50/60 Hz, 2 kVA — a modest footprint for a two-head THT cell.

Always request a component-list review from the supplier with your actual terminals and PCBs before committing, since odd-form work is defined by the parts, not the brochure.

ROI and quality perspective

From a buyer's perspective, the S7020T business case is built on three numbers that every EMS production manager already knows:

Labor — manual odd-form insertion is one of the slowest operations on a THT line. Southern Machinery's own analysis of manual insertion puts typical manual cycle time at 4–10 seconds per odd-form part, and the labor cost compounds across thousands of boards per shift. An automatic inserter converts that recurring labor into a one-time capital cost.
Rework — hand-inserted odd-form parts are a top source of polarity errors, bent leads, and missed insertions; each rework cycle costs minutes per board. Automated insertion with visual correction and consistent clinching removes that variability at the source.
Quality consistency — with 360° angular positioning, ≤ 0.8° vertical error, 0.001 mm/pulse motion accuracy, and automatic clinching, every joint is produced to the same standard as the first one — the repeatability a manual station cannot match.

Payback time depends on your board volume and part count per board, but the pattern is consistent: factories that still hand-insert reel terminals and radial taped parts at scale are paying a per-part labor penalty on every board, every shift. Automating that segment also frees skilled operators for work that machines cannot do, and it gives MES-driven factories clean, predictable cycle-time data for the THT cell.

FAQ

What is the Southern Machinery S7020T odd form insertion machine?

The S7020T is a THT odd form insertion machine from the S7020 series, designed to automatically feed, insert, and clinch reel-packaged terminals and radial taped components onto PCBs. It is part of Southern Machinery's smart EMS factory PCB assembly portfolio.

What components can the S7020T handle?

It handles odd-form parts in two primary packaging formats: terminals supplied in reel or bulk packaging (pin, eyelet, and similar terminal types, thickness ≥ 0.5 mm to ≤ 1.2 mm on the S7020 series) and radial taped components such as capacitors and transistors.

What is the insertion speed of the S7020 series?

The S7020 series is rated at 12,000 CPH with two insertion heads standard, with head configurations available to match production throughput requirements.

What PCB sizes does the S7020 series support?

Standard PCB size is 380 × 280 mm, with enlarged sizes customizable to the customer's production needs.

Does the S7020T support clinching?

Yes — the S7020 series performs inward or outward clinching, mechanically locking the inserted terminal or lead before wave soldering for a more reliable through-hole joint.

How does the S7020T fit into a PCB assembly line?

It belongs in the THT insertion cell between SMT/reflow and wave soldering: SMD content is assembled on the SMT line, radial parts can go through a radial inserter, odd-form parts through the S7020T, and the populated boards then run through lead-free wave soldering.

Where can I get the S7020T catalog and a quotation?

Contact Southern Machinery directly at jasonwu@smthelp.com. The full machine catalog is available at file.autoinsertion.com, and product images are hosted at ph.smthelp.com.

Contact Southern Machinery

Southern Machinery (founded 2011, Shenzhen, China) has served 237+ global customers with SMT, THT, and PCB assembly automation — insertion machines, wave soldering, board handling, cleaning, feeders, nozzles, and spare parts. To discuss your reel terminal and radial taped insertion requirements:

Email: jasonwu@smthelp.com
Machine catalog: file.autoinsertion.com
Product images: ph.smthelp.com
Website: www.smthelp.com