A 16 t forklift with a coil clamp takes coils off the stack and loads them onto a
truck. The only thing that changes between the three runs below is where the truck
is parked. Everything else — the machine, the driver, the coils, the stack
— is identical.
1 The three layouts
Layout A
Truck alongside
Truck parked across the aisle, bed facing the stack. The forklift picks
facing the stack, swings a quarter turn, and the bed is in front of him.
—
Layout B
Truck behind — reversing
Truck down the aisle behind him. He does not turn: he reverses to the
truck with the coil in the clamp. Slower travel, and he is working over his shoulder.
—
Layout C
Truck behind — turning
Same parking spot, but he turns on the spot to face the truck, and turns
back for the next coil. This is the one seen on the floor most often.
—
Why layout B is in here. Comparing the worst version of “behind”
against the best version of “alongside” would prove nothing. B is the most
favourable reading of parking behind the machine — no turning at all. If B still
loses, the case does not rest on the driver's habit of spinning round.
2 Same job, same clock
—
0
Coils loaded of 60
0°
Turned on the spot cumulative
0 m
Tyre scrub cumulative
0 L
Diesel burnt cumulative
—
0
Coils loaded of 60
0°
Turned on the spot cumulative
0 m
Tyre scrub cumulative
0 L
Diesel burnt cumulative
travel, clamp empty travel, coil in clamp reverse clear of stack or bed turning on the spot line up, grip, release hoist and lower truck change-over
3 What it costs to park in the wrong place
Layout
Cycle s / coil
Rate coils / h
Job time h : mm
Spot turns degrees, job
Tyre scrub m skidded, job
Driven m rolled, job
Diesel litres, job
Cost per job
4 Where the time goes, per coil
5 Every number you can change
The job
The machine — movement
The machine — handling
Distances
Both distances are measured the same way: the
straight line the forklift drives from where it stands to pick, to where it stands to
place. Measured middle row to middle slot, so it is one number for a haul that varies
a little by row.
Diesel burn by activity
Tyres
Money and volume
These are estimates, not measured gang times. Every figure above is a placeholder
chosen to be plausible for a 16 t machine on coils. The shape of the answer
— that turning on the spot adds time, fuel and scrub while moving nothing —
follows from the geometry and does not depend on the exact numbers. The size of the
answer depends on them entirely. Put a stopwatch on one shift, replace the handling and
travel times, and the output becomes a measurement instead of an argument.
What this model does not include. No variability: every cycle is identical, so there
is no spread and no queueing. Nothing about restricted vision when reversing with a coil in
the clamp — that is a safety argument against layout B, and it is not in these numbers.
Nothing about damage, either to coils or to the truck bed. Driveline and brake wear from
repeated spot turns is real and is not counted; only tyres are.
OPS-SIM-COIL · Rev 1.0 · C. Steinweg Oman LLC · Port of Sohar · Operations