Help Center – Getting Started With HCP-Go
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How to Start?
After installing HCP-Go in your Project, in the “Task” bar you will find two icons:
Clicking “Go” will open this screen:
By clicking on Run Analysis – the analysis process will start. See: Define parameters and analyze the project.
Define Parameters and Analyze the Project
First Screen: Filling in Details in HCP-Go
After opening HCP-Go in the browser, the following details must be updated and then click on Next:
- Project name*
- Schedule Owner name*
- Company name*
- HCP Report language – English / Hebrew
- Date Format – MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY
- Logo*
*Update available only by HCP-Go license holders.
Second Screen: Setting HCP-Go Parameters
A. Configuring Parameters
- Analysis Start Date – Today / Project start / Custome date.
This is the analysis start date. Any information prior to this date will be ignored.
-
Last Task to Analyze – All tasks / Until Task ID.
You can analyze the entire project network or up to a certain task, e.g., any contractual milestone.
- Analysis Effective Date – The Date the Schedule was Updated.
-
DS (Duration Slack) – Recommended: 20%. According to the Pareto principle – 80/20 Rule: 80% of the problematic paths will have a 20% duration slack from the longest path.
- If in this duration slack there are over 50,000(!) paths found, then the DS would automatically shrink (50,000 is a lot of paths to manage!).
- If in this DS there are less than 10 paths – then the DS would automatically increase.
- Your e-mail.
B. Selecting Analysis Type: Network / HCP
- Click on Network Analysis
This provides Schedule Integrity analysis, including all errors found in the schedule.
Recommended for schedule with 500+ tasks as first analysis. - Click on HCP Analysis
This provides Schedule Integrity analysis, including all errors found in the schedule, as well as HCP Critical Path Analysis, including the critical and hidden critical paths, possibilities to push forward the project, etc. (for details, see HCP report).
C. Project Calendar Settings (Optional)
- Project Calendar Settings –
If the schedule’s configured calendar varies from the software default, it is prominently expressed in the report. There are two options of repair:
- Repair using the software – not simple, but worthwhile.
- Repair in step 3 of running the report – Project Calendar Settings. Press ‘Click to Modify’ and change the default settings according to the calendar settings in the file:
- Non Work Days Per Week: e.g., if Saturday is set to 4 work hours, Sunday is set as a non-workday and Monday till Friday are weekdays with 10 work hours per day, fill in 1.6 days (Saturday=6/10, Sunday=1 non-workday).
- Work Days Per Month – how many work days, in average, are there in the schedule, per month.
- Work Day Hours – Default Start Time, Begin Lunch Hour, End Lunch Hour, Default End Time.
- If no lunch is set, begin lunch hour should be identical to end lunch hour.
HCP-Go Analysis Completion
Once the analysis is completed, an instance will appear that prompts to choose an action, according to the type of analysis chosen:
- Network Analysis – the View Report button opens the schedule quality analysis report.
Note: if you click “OK” and close the window, you can still see the report again in “Go” > “Open HCP Report”. - HCP Report – the Load HCP Data button loads the hidden critical paths analysis into your .mpp file and displays them in the Gantt. For detailed instructions, please refer to the “Embedding in MS Project” section.
Note: If you click “OK” and close the window, you can still load the hidden critical paths into the Gantt at any point by selecting “Go” > “Load HCP Data” from the menu.
Embedding data in MS Project
- To embed HCP Analysis results in the Gantt, click on the “Go” menu located in the “Task” toolbar. Then, select “Load HCP Data,” and the following window will appear in front of us:
- Choose the fields for HCP Task (a Flag field) and HCP Slack (a Text field).
- It is possible to change the field names. It is recommended to choose the same number for both fields for convenience, such as Flag20 and Text20.
- Press ‘OK’.
- After clicking ‘OK’, the analysis data is updated in the selected fields, and the graphical Gantt view has a visual addition for each hidden critical activity – HCP (small purple asterisks).
Now it’s “just” a matter of managing the project. 😊
HCP-Go actions in MS Project
After completing the analysis, we will return to Project and perform the following actions under the “Go” menu:
Load HCP Data
The “Load HCP Data” button loads the hidden critical paths analysis into your .mpp file and displays the paths results in the Gantt.
Click here for a guide on adding the HCP add-in to Project. (Add the link)
Open HCP Report
Clicking on “Open HCP Report” opens the latest analysis report of the project in your default web browser.
The report has tabs at the top for ease of reading and navigation on your computer.
Open Printable HCP Report
Clicking on “Open Printable HCP Report” opens the latest analysis report that is ready for printing in A4 format in your default web browser.
All you need to do is click “Print” (or Ctrl+P) in the browser and print as usual.
If the colors are missing from the report, click here for instructions on how to solve it.
Save Report To
Clicking on “Save Report To” saves the HCP-Go analysis report locally. It is intended for viewing in the browser and can be saved to a selected folder of your choice.
This file is identical to the report that is displayed when clicking on “Open HCP Report”.
By default, the suggested folder to save the file is the folder where your .mpp file is located.