While the object of the regular distribution of cost is the obtaining of unit─costs, there is another cost analysis which may be called a refinement of the cost─keeping system, and which, if properly used, can bring about a marked reduction in all costs. While this will be discussed more fully in the chapter upon _Reduction of Cost_, it is a form of time─keeping, and so will be touched upon here. On more or less rough construction work, it seems rather absurd to attempt to reduce the various processes of any operation to such a fineness that they may be timed to minutes and even to seconds. Conditions vary so greatly, the character of the work being done changes so much from time to time, and the personnel of the organization is sometimes shifted so much, that it seems impossible to reduce performance to any satisfactory basis which may be used as a standard. Nevertheless, without attempting to reach such a basis, careful watching and timing of the different parts of the work will result in much better performance and increased profits, as can be clearly shown. Take, for instance, a driller working with a steam drill in fairly even rock, with no marked obstacles in his way and with very little mucking to do. Notice the exact time at which his tripod is in place and the drill ready to work. The driller places his bit in the drill, turns on the steam, and the drill starts. Note the time of starting the drill; note the time when the drill stops, the bit having gone down its full length; and do the same with each subsequent bit, noting carefully the exact time consumed in changing. When the last bit is down its full length and the hole is finished, note the time required to take out the bit, move the weights, loosen the tripod, and make everything ready for the moving. Then note just how many men are required to move the drill, and just how long it takes them to do it; and finally, how long it takes the driller to get his drill again in working order and started. It will be found that a large majority of drillers take entirely too much time in the changing of bits, and that almost invariably there are too many men helping to move a drill, and that they take too long for it. Another source of delay is preparing the drill for work after it has been moved. It is perhaps just as well to take plenty of time for this, in order to get the drill properly set and adjusted before starting it; but the loss of time between the adjustment and the starting may be said to be about the same as that lost in changing bits, if not a little more. When the driller takes too long in changing bits, it is largely his own fault, and he should be watched more carefully by the foreman, and, if necessary, instructed. If time is wasted in the moving of the drill, it is the fault of the foreman alone. By a careful timing and balancing of the various processes in drilling, the most competent men can easily be picked out.