OPDEC, Inc. has released new versions of two tools from it’s suite of program management software. These products, OPDEC’s Critical Path and OPDEC’s Task Review, work in conjunction with Microsoft Project and KIDASA Software's Milestones Professional.

Both of these tools perform critical analysis and reporting functions and require a minimum of time and effort. The primary benefits delivered by these products are the tremendous time savings, the accuracy of the automated analysis delivered, and the briefing level quality of the reports generated by the tools.

Additional information is provided below about the capabilities of each of these tools, benefits, requirements and pricing. More information and a free limited use download of each tool can be found at www.opdec.com.

A Critical Path can be defined as: “The longest duration of a set series of activities to a milestone (event) will produce the critical path”.

The task of determining the critical path for a project milestone is normally very time consuming and difficult.  In addition to determining critical path for a milestone it is essential to identify and document the problems that underlie any conflicts.  Modified completion dates and other changes in the schedule activities are constantly impacting the critical path. The more dynamic and complex a project schedule becomes the more imperative it is that the critical path is identified accurately and frequently. The problem is heightened because under these conditions of changing and complicated schedules the critical path becomes more difficult to determine. As updating the critical path becomes more neglected and less visible to focus corrective actions on project problem areas, the more out of control the project schedules become.

Determining the critical path in any project can now be accomplished instantly and accurately by using OPDEC’s Critical Path Tool.  The OPDEC Critical Path tool is an add-on to Microsoft Project that displays a graphic representation of up to 5 critical paths and their associated integration points. It provides a quick analysis of the critical paths to Major Milestones in the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS). 

The chart can now be modified or copied to Microsoft Office Word or PowerPoint for presentation

Hyperlinks can be selected from each symbol to show further detail for that path.

The selection of that target milestone hyperlink will bring you to a page detailing the top issue

Using the selection criteria, the following reports are generated.

• Slipped Activities - Identify activities that have exceeded the planned date and may cause a delay in another activity in meeting its milestone date.
• Look Ahead - Gain insight into the activities scheduled to start or complete. Couple this report with the Slipped Activities report into one if desired.
• Tasks at Risk - Show activities whose % Complete variance exceed the threshold you define.
• Interfaces - Show near term hand-offs from one IPT/Organization to another and how they affect each other.
• Custom Output - Download the User's Guide to learn more about the great reporting features available with the Task Review Tool.

More information and download:  http://www.opdec.com/msp_task_review.html

The left-hand side of this report shows the activities that have passed their baseline as of the 11/16/2007 project status date. The Gantt chart is representative of the schedule dates as well as the baseline. In this template, the schedule dates are shown next to the schedule bars. On the right-hand side, the following custom fields are defined:

• Core Issue
• Status
• Total Slack
• Tasks at Risk
• Related Event

The Look Ahead report gives the user insight into the activities scheduled to start or complete up to the ‘Look to Date’ specified  Using the default Milestone Professional template ‘Look Ahead.mtp’, the following report example was created. 

The left-hand side of this report shows the activities that are scheduled to start/finish by 12/21/2007. The Gantt chart is representative of the schedule dates as well as the baseline. In this template, the schedule dates are shown next to the schedule bars. On the right-hand side, the following custom fields are defined:

• Core Issues Status
• Total Slack
• Tasks at Risk
• Period Variance

The left-hand side of this report shows the tasks that are considered at risk. The Gantt chart is representative of the schedule dates as well as the baseline. In this template, the schedule dates are shown next to the schedule bars. On the right-hand side, the following custom fields are defined:

• Tasks at Risk
• Period Variance
• Related Event

The left-hand side of this report depicts the ‘From’ activity whose schedule finish date is on or before 12/31/2007. On the right-hand side is the ‘To’ or successor activity. The following custom fields are defined:

• Line Type
• Hand-Off Slack
• Related Event

Additional Information

 Export Files to PowerPoint

Both tools have a utility that allows for the exporting of reports (or any Milestones Professional file) to a single MS Power Point slide.  Each page of a file will become a slide in MS Power Point.

  Requirements:

• Microsoft Project 2003
• Milestones Professional 2006/2008
• Microsoft Windows XP

  Features and Benefits:

• Integrates with Microsoft Office Project
• Multiple Reporting Routines
• Customizable Output using Templates
• Exports to Microsoft Office PowerPoint

   Pricing:

• Contact sales@opdec.com or call us at 256-881-1038 x14 for pricing or to place an order

• Visit www.opdec.com for additional information.