Stop Calling People “Resources”: Your RBS Is Sabotaging Performance

When you lump humans with scaffolds, cranes, and valves, you corrupt planning, distort productivity, and reward the wrong fixes. Split HUMAN from non-human natures in the RBS and run two streams of control that integrate only at the workface.

✅ Powered by Ekton Project Analytics — Owner’s Independent Controls & Analytics Layer (OICAL) By Simão (Simon) Bessala, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP · Nov 3, 2025 · 8 min read

“We’ve got the resources; why aren’t we progressing?” Because resources meant crews and cable ladders and termination kits and a crane that never arrived. The word is imprecise—and the controls built on it are worse. If you want crews to produce, stop hiding shortages behind a single bucket called “resources.” Give people ready work or don’t start.

Project Resource Dashboard Ready Pending Blocked PEOPLE Stream Electrical Crew A Available Mechanical Team B Available Instrumentation Tech Available THINGS Stream Cable Trays On Site LV Cable Reels On Site Cable Glands Short 60 units Test Equipment Booked elsewhere RELEASE CHECK FAIL – RRI: 0.70

Work package cannot be released. 30% of required items not available.

Executive Summary

Treat HUMAN as its own RBS Nature; run all non-human Natures—ACCES, EQUIPM, MATER, SUBCT, LOGIS, VEHCL, TEMPU, CAMPS, QHSER, ENVIR, ITDAT, PRCOM, MARIN—as constraints to be green before release. Control with two streams: People Flow and Things Readiness. Integrate at a single gate: the Release Check (RRI ≥ threshold (start 0.90; calibrate per risk tier), kit complete). Note: Low-value packages can run 0.85; critical path 0.95.

Two-Stream Controls (Integrate Only at Release)

People Stream (HUMAN)

Metrics: PPC, crew utilization, safety, skill mix, learning rate, CLR.
Cadences: Look-ahead planning, Last Planner commitments, daily huddles.
Goal: Smooth flow of ready tasks—not just busy crews.

Things Stream (Non-Human)

Metrics: RRI by Class, receipts vs. plan, kit completeness, DIW, logistics OTIF, vendor data maturity (VDM).
Cadences: Procurement S&OP, vendor-data gates, warehouse cycle counts.
Gate: No kit → No start 🚫

Pro tip: On document-heavy scopes, treat INFO (drawings, permits) as a third stream with its own IRI.

What Breaks When You Say “Resources”

Blended baselines

Labor hours mixed with material readiness hide the real driver of variance.

False diagnoses

“Under-production” often equals missing MATER/EQUIPM/LOGIS—not crew performance.

Perverse fixes

Adding headcount fights shortages, inflates cost, and increases idle time.

Signals That Matter: What the Charts Mean & How to Use Them

Anonymized snapshot (Q3 2025) — these examples show how to read your own resource data and where to focus readiness controls.

Legend: MATER = Materials; EQUIPM = Equipment; ACCES = Access (scaffolding); LOGIS = Logistics; SUBCT = Subcontracts.

Top Natures — distribution

MATER 76 EQUIPM 58 ACCES 52 LOGIS 33 SUBCT 24 What it shows: Relative volume by category in your non‑human register. Use it to: Prioritize which categories to gate with Release Checks and kit first.

Top Procurement Classes

Gasket (Spiral-Wound) 68 Cable (XLPE-LV) 56 Tray (300–600) 44 Pump (Multistage) 28 Flatbed (Overland) 18 What it shows: Relative volume by category in your non‑human register. Use it to: Prioritize which categories to gate with Release Checks and kit first.

“Stop measuring vibes with a single ‘resource’ donut. Split People and Things—or keep funding idle time.”

A Short, Uncomfortable Example

Work: Pull LV cables to Substation 01. HUMAN: 2 pulling crews, 1 termination crew. Non-human: ACCES/Tray/300–600, MATER/Cable/XLPE-LV, MATER/Gland/NPT-Brass, ITDAT/Megger.

What happened: Trays 100% installed; cable reels on site; glands short by 60 due to PO Class mismatch; test kit booked to another area.

Legacy dashboards often report: “Resources deployed; low productivity.” Truth: Resource Readiness Index (RRI) = 0.70 — 70% of required items ready; glands & test kit missing. Impact: 18 crew-days lost.

Fix: Lock Class at RFQ; kit completeness check; logistics reservation for Megger; Release Check blocks start until PASS.

Post-fix result: RRI locked at 0.92 → zero repeat losses over next 12 pulls.

Commercials That Reinforce the Split

Pay items by Class. Tie progress/payment to Class delivery + kit completeness.
Vendor SLAs on VDM & OTIF. Score data maturity & leg reliability by Class.
Incentivize DIW cover. Reward stable forward cover; penalize expediting fire drills.

Glossary (Plain English)

Resource Readiness Index (RRI): Share of required non‑human items verified available and kitted for a work package.
Percent Plan Complete (PPC): % of planned tasks finished as promised in the period.
Days of Inventory at the Workface (DIW): Forward days of cover of kitted items at the workface.
On‑Time In‑Full (OTIF): % of deliveries that arrive by the agreed date and in the expected quantity.
Vendor Data Maturity (VDM): Completeness/acceptance score for vendor drawings, datasheets, ITPs and QA records.
Information Readiness Index (IRI): % of required drawings, permits, and records accepted and available to start work.
Release Check: Go/No‑Go gate to start work, based on kit completeness and readiness thresholds.
Earned Value (EV): Portion of budgeted value actually accomplished.

Where Ekton Project Analytics Fits

Owners and PMCs need an independent, auditable view. Ekton Project Analytics stands up the Owner’s Independent Controls & Analytics Layer (OICAL) that speaks RBS natively. We deploy the RBS — Resource Breakdown Structure — as the single coding spine across procurement, logistics, warehousing, and field progress; implement two-stream controls with an uncompromising Release Check (RRI ≥ threshold (start 0.90; calibrate per risk tier), kit complete); and deliver dashboards that reconcile EV to receipts-by-Class so green curves finally match a green yard. Book a 15‑min RRI demo