Manual THT Insertion Burns Labor — Automate PIN and Terminal

Hand-inserting PINs, eyelets, and terminals is the most repeated and least automatable step left on many THT lines — until it isn't. An operator places each rigid through-hole part by eye, clips or bends the lead, and hopes the angle is right, all shift long. One mis-seated terminal or one reversed pin shows up only after wave soldering, when rework means heating the joint and risking the pad. The labor cost compounds across every shift you run it by hand.

Southern Machinery's S7020 Series PIN, Eyelet, and Terminal Insertion Machine is a dual-head through-hole auto-insertion system rated at 12,000 CPH. It places PINs, eyelets, terminals, and selected odd-form parts with 360° insertion angles, visual correction, and inward or outward clinching — taking the most repetitive manual insertion work off the EMS, ODM, and power-electronics bench.

Why manual THT insertion breaks yield

A human hand has no fixed angle and no memory of the last board. Across a run it produces a spread of defects:

• Mis-angled insertion — pins seated off-axis weaken mechanical retention and complicate wave soldering.
• Reversed polarity — terminals placed backward pass only at functional test, after the joint is soldered.
• Bent or lifted leads — mishandled leads drive post-solder pull-out and rework.
• Inconsistent clinch — uneven lead forming gives uneven hold across the panel.
• Throughput cap — hand insertion is the front-end bottleneck of the THT line, throttling everything behind it.

Every one of these is a process defect, not a parts defect. Automating the insertion removes the variance from the angle and the clinch.

The Odd-Form Insertion Audit

Score your insertion workload before specifying a machine. The audit uses your product:

1. List the through-hole hardware. PINs, eyelets, terminals, standoffs, and odd-form parts the pick-and-place cannot feed — count them per board.

2. Check the packaging. Are your terminals in bulk, reel, or radial-taped form? The feeder must match the pack you buy.

3. Measure the geometry. Lead diameter, insertion-hole clearance, and body spacing decide whether the 360° head and clinch style fit.

4. Map the changeover. How many board types per shift, and can positions be imported from EXCEL or taught visually without mechanical re-tooling?

The audit tells you whether hand insertion is still defensible at your volume — and past a certain point, it isn't.

The Vehicle: how the S7020 works

The S7020 reads insertion positions from online visual programming with visual correction, and can import coordinates from EXCEL via USB — so a job change is a programming task, not a mechanical rebuild. Dual heads place parts at 12,000 CPH, rotating to any angle in 1° steps, then clinch the lead inward or outward to lock it. Feeders handle both bulk-packed terminals (vibration bowl) and taped components (reel / radial-taped), covering the hardware a placement machine cannot touch.

Verified specification from the Southern Machinery S7020 product page:

| Parameter | Specification |

|---|---|

| Insertion speed | 12,000 CPH (2-head configuration) |

| Insertion heads | 2 (multi-head variants in demos) |

| Insertion angle | 360°, adjustable in 1° increments |

| Terminal thickness range | 0.5 mm to 1.2 mm |

| PCB size | 380 × 280 mm standard (larger on request) |

| Insertion hole rule | 0.5 ± 0.1 mm larger than lead |

| Vertical error | ≤ 0.8° |

| Motion accuracy | 0.001 mm / pulse |

| Clinch options | Inward and outward clinching |

| Feeding systems | Vibration bowl and reel / radial-taped feeder |

| Programming | Visual programming, EXCEL import, USB, manual |

| Machine size / weight | 1700 × 1300 × 1600 mm / 1200 kg |

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

Confirm the final configuration against your component list and board drawings before ordering.

Where it fits in a complete line

In a mixed SMT + THT factory the S7020 sits in the THT segment: screen printer → pick-and-place → reflow → SPI/AOI, then auto insertion (radial and axial machines plus the S7020 for PIN/eyelet/terminal and odd-form), then wave soldering, inline lead cutting, PCBA cleaning, final AOI, and functional test. Southern Machinery supplies all segments, so the S7020 can be delivered as part of an integrated line — including the loader-and-conveyor setups shown in their inline insertion line photos — rather than a standalone island.

The ROI case

The case rests on three measurable effects. Throughput: 12,000 CPH removes the manual-insertion bottleneck at the front of the THT line. Quality: 360° angle control, ≤ 0.8° vertical error, visual correction, and consistent clinching cut polarity mistakes, bent leads, and pull-out defects that drive post-solder rework. Waste: automated feeding and placement reduce scrap versus hand placing of expensive terminals and connectors. For factories hand-inserting across shifts, payback is often clear on headcount reduction alone — model it with your own numbers, and re-run the Odd-Form Insertion Audit when you add a component or board type; this audit-and-improvement loop keeps the machine matched to the work as your mix changes.

Your next step

Send us your component list, packaging format, and board drawings — our engineers recommend an S7020 configuration for your PIN, eyelet, terminal, or odd-form workload and show how it connects to your line. Southern Machinery (Shenzhen, China, since 2011, 237+ global customers) supplies SMT, THT, wave soldering, board handling, and inspection equipment as full-line solutions, with installation, training, and spare parts.

FAQ

What is the S7020 used for? It automates through-hole insertion of PIN, eyelet, and terminal components, and selected odd-form parts such as MOS transistors and connectors, as shown in Southern Machinery's demos.

What speed does it reach? The documented 2-head configuration runs at 12,000 CPH; multi-head variants appear in product videos. Confirm the configuration that fits your component mix.

Which PCBs can it handle? Standard capacity is 380 × 280 mm, with enlarged sizes on request; the board design rule is an insertion hole 0.5 ± 0.1 mm larger than the lead.

Does it support clinching and taped feeding? Yes — it offers both inward and outward clinching, and feeds bulk terminals via vibration bowl plus reel / radial-taped components via reel feeder.

How is it programmed? Online visual programming with visual correction, plus EXCEL coordinate import over USB — suited to high-mix production and fast changeover.

Jason Wu

Founder & CEO, Southern Machinery (Shenzhen Southern Machinery Sales and Service Co., Ltd.)

Email: jasonwu@smthelp.com / info@smthelp.com

WhatsApp: +86 13602562576

Catalog & manuals: file.autoinsertion.com | Machine photos: ph.smthelp.com

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