Part 20
Just to the right of the shovel records, and below the record for drill gang No. 2, is the heading "_ng.tr. # 1_;" and the men whose numbers are under this heading are engaged in laying and repairing the narrow─gauge track for the dump trains from shovel No. 1. Just below the middle of the page, is a list of names and numbers utterly unintelligible to anyone but the one who made it. The facts are these: _Donovan_ is the man who looked after the storage of powder; within the bracket, _Nick_ (the time─keeper, not knowing the last name, used his number, as well as the part of the name that he knows) is the blacksmith; and No. 72 is his helper; No. 118 helped the blacksmith for two hours, having been taken from the narrow─gauge track gang. The time─keeper had to depend entirely upon the blacksmith telling him this, or his record would have been incomplete. The next three men whose names appear in this column were engaged upon repairing a 6─inch pipe line; and the next two pairs within brackets, marked No. 2 and No. 1, are the pipe─fitters for the drill gangs and shovels No. 2 and No. 1 respectively.
DISTRIBUTION FROM TIME─KEEPER'S NOTEBOOK
The time─keeper, having taken his notes over the entire job, sends them to the office so that the time may be posted for each man, and the distribution made.
The time─keeper goes over his notes, and picks out the items that are chargeable to drilling. In gang No. 2, there are 6 drillers at 30 cents per hour; 6 helpers, 4 muckers, 1 man carrying bits, and one fireman's helper, all at 17 cents, and one fireman at 25 cents. From the note at the bottom of the page, he knows (although no one else would) that _Lear_ at 20 cents and No. 278 at 17 cents, were also with this gang. This, with the foreman at $3.50 per day, figures to $29.08. These are the charges that go directly to drilling, being the cost of time of the men actually engaged upon that operation and nothing else. But besides this, there must be apportioned to this cost a certain part of the Superintendent's salary, a portion of the labor on the 6─inch water pipe and the whole water system, a portion of the time of the blacksmith, the watchman, the storekeeper, the time─keeper, clerks, the water boy, and numerous other items.
In exactly the same way, the cost of the operation of the steam shovels is figured. For instance, No. 2 has an engineer at $125, a cranesman at $100, and a fireman at $75, a month, and 6 pitmen at 20 cents per hour, making the total charge of crew $19.27. To this the time─keeper added $5.44 as the cost of digging the ditch that drains the shovel pit. To charge this whole amount against the shovel for that day, is manifestly unjust, as the work of draining through this ditch will continue for many days, always facilitating the work of the shovel. The cost of subsequent days' work is lessened, while the cost of this particular day, as given with the $5.44 charge against it, is entirely too high. The spreading of an item of this kind is an extremely difficult matter, but it must be done. The steam─shovel cost must also have its proportional share of the charge for Superintendent, water system, blacksmith, etc.
The charge for narrow─gauge track is $14.86, being the time of one foreman at 20 cents, and 9 men for 8 hours and one man for 6 hours at 17 cents. The charge against No. 1 dump is $8.40, being the time for one foreman at 20 cents, and 5 men for 8 hours at 17 cents. The cost of blasting is figured exactly the same way, and the 900 pounds of powder used entered in the material account charged against the work in front of shovel No. 1.
The headings for the distribution of steam─shovel work, aside from _Drilling_ and _Blasting_, would be _Shovel crew_, _Pit crew_, _Dump crew_, _Laying shovel track_, _Train crew_, and _Laying narrow─gauge track_, all of which in the end can be summarized under _Loading and Transporting_, and the unit─cost of moving a yard of material figured from this summary.
PUNCH─CARDS
The manner in which the time─keeper takes his notes in a notebook has been shown, and the impracticability of many of its phases pointed out. Two punch─cards for use on such work as that mentioned──namely, rock excavation with steam shovels and dump trains──are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. They are the _Steam─Shovel Card_ and the _Train Record_. The shovel card is kept by the shovel runner or the fireman, and the train record is kept by the dinkey runner. Each keeps his own record separately; and, at the end of the day's work, the records must check each other.
The steam─shovel card shows the date, the number of cars loaded per hour, and the total number loaded per day. It also shows the time of starting and stopping the shovel for any reason, the stops for moving up being indicated in a different way from other stops; and thus a record of moves is kept automatically. The time of the shovel crew and the exact number of hours worked by the pit crew, are also shown, together with the cubic feet of coal consumed by the shovel. The causes of delays and the condition of the shovel are written in the blank spaces under their proper heading at the bottom of the card; but with this exception, the entire record is made with the use of an ordinary conductor's punch.
The train card shows the number of trips made by a train each day, the time of leaving the shovel on any trip being shown to the nearest 5 minutes. The number of cars hauled by all the trains during any hour must check with the number of cars loaded, as shown on the shovel card. The train card, besides showing the date, shows the total number of cars hauled (the total of all cards must check the total cars as shown by the steam─shovel record), the cubic feet of coal consumed, the average yardage per car, the haul in stations of 100 feet, the number of the dinkey engine, and a report of its condition, whether it be good, fair, or bad. This card is signed with the dinkey runner's name.
It will be seen that the record is very much more complete than that taken by the time─keeper, and is more reliable as to methods, being made while the work is going on; and the greater part of it is checked by having two records made separately, instead of taking a verbal report from the shovel runner the following day as in the example previously shown.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Punch─Card for Recording Work of Excavation with Steam Shovel.]
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Punch─Card for Recording Work of Dump Trains in Excavation Work.]
Neither the train record nor shovel card, however, show any distribution of time, but are really performance records. The pipe and steamfitter's card reproduced in Fig. 6 gives an excellent example of how the time is taken and the distribution automatically made all at one time.
The classifications of labor are: Shovel, Channeller, Drills, Dinkey, and Trains, Pump, Tank, General Water System, and Blacksmith, being lettered, it will be noticed, from _A_ to _H_ at the head of the column. Each card provides space for the record of the foreman and 14 men. These eight classifications will probably cover all the work that the pipe and steamfitters are called upon to do; but if not, there are two extra lines on which can be written any classifications out of the ordinary.
There will be certain men assigned to certain regular work, as in the case previously quoted under the head of the Time─Keeper's Notebook, where there were two pipemen for each drill outfit. If these men spend their entire day of eight hours doing nothing but looking after the water supply for the drills, a punch mark would be made above the number of each of them on the card and opposite the figure 8, which represents the hours worked. To the left of the eight, and in the same line, and also in the vertical column opposite the word _Drills_, another punch mark will be made. Again, opposite the letter _C_, which is the key for the classification of drills, and in the column assigned to each man, and below his name, another punch mark will be made. This gives the workman full time, showing that he worked eight hours on drill water supply and nothing else. Suppose the foreman worked three hours on the general water system, three hours on the pumping station, and two hours directing the repair of the water tank. There would then be on the record a punch mark in his column opposite 3, 6, and 8; at the left of 3 in the column headed _G_, another punch will appear; at the left of 6 in the column _E_, another punch will be found, and still another at the left of 8 in the column _F_. In the column under the foreman's name, punch marks would be made opposite _E_, _F_, and _G_, showing that he worked on these three classifications.
In the same way, the time and occupation of each man under this foreman can be indicated, no matter how many changes he may make in his work during the day. The time, however, is recorded only to the nearest hour.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Pipe and Steamfitter's Card, Showing Method of Taking Time, and of Simultaneous Automatic Distribution.]
Provision is made in the lower left─hand corner, for the punching of the date; and along the lower edge is the place for the recording of the number of hours used in thawing the pipes, etc., and in providing protection for them. This latter record was found necessary, because the work on which these cards were used was done in an extremely cold locality and continued throughout the entire year.
When the records are made in the field and are sent in to the office to be transferred to permanent records, it is not necessary for the man who made the record to be at hand to interpret his notes, as there is absolutely no opportunity given him to allow his note taking to vary in the least from day to day, the record being absolutely automatic.
PROCESS COST SUBDIVISION
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.
In the case of concreting, the minutes lost in the handling of a batch of material from the stock pile to its final position as concrete, often amount to a great deal. Suppose on a small job a half─yard mixer is being used, and it averages for 8 hours 30 batches per hour, or 120 yards per day. If it is possible to reduce the time of each batch 15 seconds, the output of the plant will be increased over 14 per cent; or, figured on a basis of 120 yards, there will be an increase of 17 yards, which──at, say, $5.00 per yard──would mean a handsome increase in the daily profits. And still, 15 seconds seems to be almost too trivial a matter for which to spend time and perhaps a little extra money in the way of time─keeping.
Starting with the unmixed material in the stock pile, notice how long it takes the men to load their wheelbarrows with sand and stone; then the time that the material remains in the wheelbarrow, both at the beginning and stopping end of the trip to the mixer; and also the time in transit. If the material is dumped into measuring boxes, note the time that it remains in the boxes. If it is dumped directly from the wheelbarrows into the mixer, it is necessary to take the time of mixing from when the first wheelbarrow was dumped until the batch is dumped. The mixer may be said to be the governor of the whole operation; for the men handling unmixed material can handle it no faster than the mixer takes it, and the men handling the mixed concrete can get it no faster than the mixer furnishes it to them. For this reason the observation of the operation of the mixer should be made with special care. It is not our intention to tell how, or to give advice concerning the mixing of concrete; but it is desired to show how, if any time is to be saved, it will be through the saving of seconds in each operation.
If the mixed concrete is to be dumped as a batch into the hopper or hoist, the question of time saving is much simpler than if portions of the batch have to be dumped into wheelbarrows. If, however, it is necessary to dump into wheelbarrows, a basis for the time necessary to empty the mixer can be found only by careful timing and noting the
## action of the men during the timing.
The time between the filling and the emptying of the wheelbarrow of concrete, will of course vary greatly according to the haul; but here again, careful timing and observation will soon establish a basis from which the most economical manner of distributing the concrete can be made; and exactly the same thing is true of the return of the empty barrels.
All of this may seem to be a digression from the subject of cost getting; but in fact it is merely a discussion of a very refined form of cost getting, and a branch of the subject which has perhaps been given too little attention. When the daily output of a job is up to or above the average, everything looks bright, and no one who is responsible feels overburdened with care. If, however the output falls too low, some glaring cause is at once sought, and the fall of output blamed to some unforeseen circumstance or accident. This is all very well, as accidents affecting output cannot be entirely avoided, and unforeseen conditions will make great differences in performance; but the careful analysis of process cost subdivision will bring about results that will astonish those "practical men" who think that they have got their unit─costs down to the lowest point simply because their output is generally large and everyone on the work seems to be working to his top notch.
OUTPUT
The reason for compiling the data for which the time─keeper is responsible, is that, from the analysis of the distribution made, the contractor is able to tell what work is being done with profit; and, if any particular operation shows loss, the analysis will help more than anything else to discover the reason for the loss. In figuring his profit on any work, the contractor must figure on a unit─cost basis, exactly the same as he figures when he prepares his bid. In order to do this, he must have an exact measurement of output. In many classes of work, this measurement is extremely simple; but in others no little ingenuity is required to devise a scheme which will give the information wanted exactly and without requiring much work.
The payment for work is based upon the engineer's estimate. The _monthly estimate_ is usually more or less a guess, made simply for the purpose of paying the contractor approximately according to what he has done. The monthly estimate is generally a pretty fair approximation of the exact amount of work done; and the _final estimate_ covers everything included in the contract that has not already been taken care of.
The contractor's measurements of work done each day should agree quite closely with the engineer's estimate; but, if the work is difficult to measure, the contractor has many times more opportunity of making errors in his measurement by going over it daily than the engineer has who only goes over it once. A careful consideration of the differences in the amount of estimates will sometimes show the contractor how his estimates can be made to balance with those of any particular corps of engineers, and he can govern his daily measurement accordingly.
There are few measurements in the field which can be reduced to a unit, or rather which can be counted directly. Linear measurements are easy enough to get; the measurement of area is a little more difficult; while the measurements of volume, especially in rough work, are often extremely difficult to make in a satisfactory manner. Measurement by weight is often found to be of great advantage, if proper facilities can be arranged for weighing.
The measurement of drill output is extremely simple. The holes for any one day's work can be marked as they are finished, and, at the end of the day, all measured; or they can be measured as finished, and their depth taken, and hence the entire day's work is easily determined. This, of course, is a linear measurement; and in the same class would fall such work as laying track, ballasting, grading with a road machine, and the measurement of the work of track and wheel scrapers.
The measurement of quantities whose units are areas is only a little more difficult. Paving, for instance, is very easily measured, the distance from curb to curb generally being constant, and so really reducing the measuring to a linear measurement──that is, the length of the section of pavement laid. Brick laying, while really a cubical measurement, is taken in the same way, the area of the face of the wall laid being taken, and multiplied by the standard number of bricks to any given thickness of wall. This really reduces the measurement for brick laying to a unit─basis, the unit being one brick. Painting and plastering are measured in the same way; and so also is roofing. On road work, plowing and sprinkling are estimated per unit─area; and in quarry work, channeling is so estimated.
The determination of volume on construction work is liable to be very difficult. Take, for instance, the output of a steam shovel cutting through rock. The walls of the cut will be very irregular both in line and in slope, no matter how skilfully the shovel is operated; and the face of the cut is liable to be even more irregular. No absolutely exact measurement can be made; and for this reason it is common practice to estimate the contents of the cars rather than attempt to estimate the size of the pit excavation during any one day. Generally the size of the pit is roughly measured, and the yardage figured from this measurement. It is also figured from the number of cars loaded, and, if carefully done and the estimate of the volume of the cars loaded is correct, both figures should balance at the end of the month with the monthly estimate, which, on account of the large volume measured, can practically ignore such irregularity as would affect the other two measurements. In earth excavation, the measurement is much simpler, because the pit is more regular and the cars can be fully loaded.
There are natural working units that lend great simplicity to calculations of cost──such, for example, as a floor panel in a building, a column, a bridge panel, a pier of masonry, etc.
Another unit of measurement is often obtained through the percentage of a total or of another unit, such as the amount of sand in a yard of concrete. Knowing the mix, a percentage of the total yardage of concrete will be the amount of sand that has been moved.
Care should be taken properly to subdivide the units of measurement. The ordinary unit of concrete work is the cubic yard or the cubic foot. The mistake is frequently made, of estimating the cost of forms and of reinforcement only in terms of the cubic yards of concrete. The cost of forms should be estimated also by the number of feet, board measure. Reinforcing steel should be estimated by the pound.
One difficult kind of work to obtain costs on by the regular method, is the laying of cut stone. A very simple way to obtain this is to paint on each stone a number, and let the time─keeper get the dimensions of the stone after it has been cut, before it has been placed in the wall. Then the stone layer simply records the number of each stone as it is laid.