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Ad Hoc items

Items → Ad hoc items

From the Item menu, choose Ad Hoc items…

This feature requires activation in Preferences > Invoices 1

mSupply® defines Ad Hoc items as items that you don't keep in stock, and that you never will keep in stock. An example of an Ad Hoc item is a specialised item of diagnostic equipment which you would purchase on one occasion only. When a customer orders an item that you decide will be a “one-off” purchase, you can enter it as an Ad Hoc item.

Ad Hoc items differ from non-stock items in only one respect; they are purchased once. Non-stock items are items which, although they do not feature in your stock list, may be purchased with some degree of regularity.

The following diagram outlines the work flow for Ad Hoc items:

When you choose Items > Ad Hoc items, the following window is displayed:

From this window you can view Ad Hoc items, add new items, delete items and edit existing items.

The "Show" Drop-down list

This drop-down list allows you to view Ad Hoc items by their status. Ad Hoc items can have the following status codes:

Status code | Meaning
== un == | The item has not yet been assigned to a supplier- think of this as your “to-do” list
== as == | The item has been assigned to a supplier, but has not been placed on a Purchase Order. These items also need action.
== po == | The item has been added to a Purchase Order, but the goods have not arrived.
== fn == | The item has arrived from a supplier and been invoiced to the customer

The "Name" field

Enter part of a customer or supplier name in this field and press Tab to show a list of matching names. Choosing a supplier will show items assigned to that supplier. Choosing a customer will show items supplied or to be supplied to that customer.

Once you have chosen a name you can fine-tune the list displayed for that name.

The "New" button

Clicking the “new” button displays this window:

From this window you can add an item name, the name of the customer, then name of the supplier, the quantity to order, and add a comment.

When the customer orders an item, you may not know who the supplier is. You can just leave the supplier name blank.

Editing an Ad Hoc item

To edit an item, double-click it in the list to display the item details, and a window Edit Ad hoc item, almost identical to the Add Ad hoc item :, appears where you can edit the required details.

Adding Ad Hoc items to a Purchase Order

When you are making a Purchase Order for a particular supplier, you can click on the Ad Hoc items Tab to view a list of Ad Hoc items you have assigned to that supplier, allowing you to add them to the Purchase Order. More information is available here - The Ad Hoc items tab.[1]

Previous: Merging two items Next: Non stock items

Adding a New item

Items → Adding a new item

From Item > New item use this command to add details of a new item to be included in your stock list. (It is not for adding actual stock - just details of the item).

Note:: Don't be put off by the number of fields appearing on this window! mSupply will operate satisfactorily after entries have been made in just two fields - Item code and Item name . All the other fields can be regarded as optional extras, some or all of which you may use when you start using mSupply®, at some later date, or not at all. mSupply® is a very versatile package! Descriptions of all the entry fields, however, are included in this section.

This is the entry screen:

Type: This field defaults to normal , which you will use routinely; the other options are service and cross reference.

The service option allows entry of items which have no physical stock, for example, a consultancy fee; the service option will appear only if it has been set in the mSupply Preferences. When entering a service item only the following fields will be shown:

The cost price field is used for when you buy a service, such as getting an oxygen cylinder refilled. The sell price is the price you charge when selling the service. Neither field is compulsory.

The cross reference entry should be used to enter the commonly used name of an item when it differs from the listed name. In Nepal, for example, paracetamol tablets are frequently referred to as cetamol , and the cross reference entry would have this appearance:

Item code, Item name: Appropriate entries must be made in these two fields.

Here are some suggestions for making a consistent system. (You may ignore these suggestions, as it is not necessary to know or remember item codes while using mSupply®).

The code field should start with the first three letters of the item's name - e.g. 'asp' for aspirin tablets.

The item name should not be the trade name of the item, and should start with the most obvious and broadest description.

e.g. “Brody forceps” should be entered as “forceps, brody”. “Aqueous iodine” should be entered as “iodine, aqueous”

If you think the item should appear in the published price list, then check the appropriate box.

Units: The drop down list allows you to choose the appropriate units for the new item ; mSupply comes with a limited list of pre-defined units, but it is recommended that users define their own list. You will find more information here.

Price list: If this box is checked, this item will be included when you produce price lists.

Preferred pack size: This is the standard pack size that you use for comparing quotes from suppliers.

Category: Choose a category from the list. Item categories are set up using the menu command Item > Show item categories… You will find more information oncategories here.

Shelf location: Type as much of the location (ie the first few text characters) or code as you know, then press the Tab key. If only one location code matches your entry it will be filled in automatically, otherwise you will be shown a standard choice list like this:

Select the location you want by double-clicking a line or by clicking once on the line and then clicking OK

Normal stock: For practically all new entries this box should be checked; at a later date should the item be removed from your formulary, for instance, you would remove the check from this box.

Critical stock: Should it be a requirement that you must never be out of stock of this item , this box should be checked.

Essential drug: Check this box if the item is on your Essential Drugs List

ATC Category: This field is intended for the ATC code which is discussed here[2]. Other systems of coding/categorising may also be used.

DDD value: The Defined Daily Dose for this item. This is a text field, so you can enter the units as well (e.g. “1g” or “250mg”)

DDD factor: The DDD for this item divided by the strength (eg if the “DDD” is 1000mg, and the strength is “125mg”, you would enter “8”)

Weight: You have the option of making an entry in this field, if appropriate..

Non stock item: If applicable, this box should be checked.

OK: Pressing OK will accept the details and allow you to add another item.

If you don't want to add more items, press Cancel. Items previously added are still saved - just the details showing on the screen are not saved.

Previous: Understanding Items Next: Item categories

Managing Item Access...

Items → Managing item access

Introduction

Item departments are a mechanism by which you can restrict item availability to certain customers only.

Item departments are a bit complicated. Here's what you need to remember:

Each customer can be a member of only one group.

Each item can be a 'direct' member of only one department. However, a department can be a member of another department, so an item can, in effect, be a member of more than one department

Each group can have access to items from multiple departments.

The Activate restricted item access by customer group option must be turned on in Preferences>Invoices2 before this option to work.

Here is a summary of how department groups affect whether or not an item can be issued.

When you attempt to issue stock to a customer whose group does not have access to the department of the item you are issuing, either a warning will be displayed or mSupply® will not allow you to issue the stock - depending on how your preferences are set.

Items that are not in any department can be issued to any customer

Items that are members of a department can not be issued to any Customers that are not members of a group.

Creating and editing item departments

Choose Show departments from the Item menu displays the Edit departments… window. This is where you are able to create and edit item departments. Once you have created departments the window might appear something like this, and you are now ready to assign items to a department:

View item departments

Taking as an example the department Anti anaemic tablets, the items in the department are shown by clicking Show item departments on the Item menu, and then double clicking on the Anti anaemic tablets department:

Each department can have any number and combination of items and departments in it.

Setting up access from customer groups to item departments

From the Item menu, choose Manage item access…, and this window is displayed:

The left hand list shows the available departments

The right hand list shows the customer groups that presently have access to the department which is highlighted on the left hand side.

The example shown identifies the four customer groups which are linked to the Anti-anaemic item department:

The icons on the right side allow you to add and/or remove groups that have access to the highlighted department.

Clicking the Add a new relationship button shows a list of groups you can add:

Double-click (or click and then click OK) to add a group to the current department. You will be given a warning if you try to add the same group twice.

Show groups...

Customer groups can be used to group customers (or suppliers) together for reporting purposes, and also to set up an item restrictions scheme, allowing some items to be issued only to certain customers.

See the explanation of how to set up a restriction scheme by clicking here[3].

The groups window allows you to set up group names:

Click the New group button to add a new group.

Double-click an entry to edit its name:

You can enter or edit the group name in the top field.

The list displays all names which are members of this group.

Click the Delete button to delete a group. You can only delete groups that have no names as members. You can remove group members from the Groups tab of the name viewing window (From the Customer menu, choose Show Customers and find the required customer in the usual way.)

The drop down list displays the group to which this customer belongs, and to remove the customer, make sure none is selected from the drop down list; to assign the customer to a different group, highlight the new group in the drop down list.

Click OK to leave the window.

Departments

Overview: A manufacturer might create departments for raw materials, packing materials, and quality control reagents. A drug store or hospital might create departments according to dose form or according to pharmacological classification, etc.

From the Item menu, choose Show departments …; you are shown a list of departments:

By default the list displays in alphabetic order; clicking on Departments toggles between alphabetic order and reverse alphabetic order; you may also drag and drop individual departments to any position in the list to suit your own requirements, and on clicking OK you will be asked whether or not you wish to save the list in the order you have specified.

To add a new department, click the New dept button.

To edit a department, double-click the department you want to edit. You are shown a window allowing you to edit the department name:

The radio buttons allow you to choose what will happen when you attempt to issue an item to a customer who is not a member of a linked group. Either the user can be warned or the issue can be disallowed. This only applies if you have Activate restricted item access by customer group turned on in the Preferences - otherwise you can ignore this setting.

The Items tab displays a list of items that are members of the group you are viewing:

To delete a department

Double-click it to display the entry window, then click the Delete button. Note that you can not delete a department that has item members. You will be warned if you try to do this. To delete a department with Items, click the items tab and note the items that are members, then edit those items (using the Items > Show items … menu command) and set their departments to either none or a different department. You will then be able to delete the department.

Previous: Managing drug interaction groups Next: Prices in mSupply

Manage drug interaction groups

Items → Drug interaction groups

This feature is chosen from the Item menu

The examples given in this section are included only for the purpose of familiarising the user with the interactions feature of mSupply and how to use it. Use of this feature is the responsibility of the user, and Sustainable Solutions® bears no liability whatsoever for any consequence of inappropriate use.

Drug interaction groups allow you to specify groups of items that interact with each other, and then prepare a warning message to be displayed if these items from interacting groups are issued to the same patient.

You can set up interactions in store mode, but warnings will only appear in dispensary mode.

To use this feature, it must be set up, and these are the steps:

Choose a way of defining interaction groups. A number of systems are in use or are under development, and the internet is a useful resource for further investigation.

Define which items are in which groups.

Add interactions between groups.

Let's look at each of those steps in turn

Defining interaction groups

Choose Items> Drug interaction groups … Until you have set up some groups, the list will be blank; a number of groups have been set up for the purposes of this guide, shown below right:

Click the New Group button to add a new group, or double-click an entry to edit it.

Double clicking on NSAID displays this window:

The window has two tabs.

The Items tab shows a list of items that have been assigned to the group.

Define which items are in which groups

You assign an item to a group by viewing the item details (Choose Items > Show items ), and setting interaction group from a drop-down list.

Add interactions between groups

The Interactions tab shows a list of groups that the current group interacts with.

This tab has two buttons allowing you to add or delete a drug interaction. (To delete an interaction click on the line you wish to delete before clicking the Delete interaction button).

To edit an interaction double-click on the one to be edited. This window appears::

You choose the group that affects the current group, and then enter details about the interaction by choosing from the drop-down lists.

The choices available are:

Type of interaction

Inhibits (I)

Augments (A)

No effect (N)

Conflicting evidence (C)

Clinical Significance

Minor (1)

Moderate (2)

Major (3)

Unknown (?)

Quality of evidence

Poor (P)

Fair (F)

Good (G)

Unknown (?)

You can enter a message to be displayed when an interaction occurs, and any notes you may want to record. These fields are optional.

When you are issuing items in dispensary mode, in order to display a warning:

the Alert when there are drug interactions checkbox must be checked in File > Preferences > Drug Interactions. The warning as shown will be displayed if the patient is being issued with interacting items:

Number of days of patient history.. must be set. We recommend setting it to 180, so that any items dispensed in the last six months that interact with the item you are currently dispensing are found.

Previous: Non-stock items Next: Managing Item access

Forecasting

Items → Forecasting

Updated: version 3.2, May 2014 (This functionality not available in earlier versions)

In mSupply, consumption is defined as stock that is issued. Stock lost due to damage, expiry, etc. (managed through Inventory Adjustments) are not included in consumption. During the later quantification calculation, there are options to include or exclude Stock Transfers[4] and Builds in the consumption calculation.

By default, mSupply uses the assumption that future consumption will continue at the same level as consumption over a given historic period. Our experience is that in 99% of situations the results obtained using this method are between very good and excellent. However, in certain situations you may want to provide your own forecasts. Reasons for this could include factors such as:

Natural population increase

An epidemic causing increased demand

Historical usage being inaccurate due to operator error or out of stocks.

A change to Standard Treatment Guidelines meaning a new treatment is being introduced, and there is no historical data

Morbidity and mortality data has been obtained and used to calculate requirements. mSupply provides a number of alternative methods for making a forecast of future consumption. These other methods are detailed in sections following below.

mSupply allows you to choose to use from a range of forecasting methods on a per item basis. To choose a different forecasting method for any given item, find the item you are interested in, then open it's details view, and choose the Usage tab:

In the Forecasting section of the window shown above there are four options:

Use Historic AMC

This is the default option, and is the recommended method. During the later quantification stage (creating a new tender[5], creating a new purchase order[6] or the suggested order report), there is an opportunity to provide the number of months of historical data to use to calculate the forecast.

For our worked example, we will use the Historic AMC method, based on 12 months of historic data.

Use historical AMC increased by a factor of X %

Using this option, mSupply will still calculate requirements based on historical AMC, but increased by the percentage you have entered.

BEWARE! Once set, this option will continue to govern for every forecast generated by mSupply for this item until you re-set forecasting to the default (use of historical AMC).

Use a fixed, estimated AMC of .....

This option allows you to specify a particular amount that will be applied to all future months. For example, you might have caluclated a target consumption for an oral contraceptive based on fixed population and coverage targets.

BEWARE! Once set, this option will continue to govern for every forecast generated by mSupply for this item until you re-set forecasting to the default (use of historical AMC).

Use Projection (A or B)

With this option, mSupply allows you to maintain an A and a B projection, and easily swap between them. Of course you must enter projections for this to be of any use!

Entering Projections

You can enter projections in a number of ways

Manually entering projections

If you click once on a cell that contains a projection (as opposed to a cell containing historical data), then you can click again to edit the cell's value.

Don't double-click: you need to click once, wait for a second or two, then click again

Copying a projection

You might want to copy historical data as a starting point for your projection. You can do this by choosing a column for from column and to column in the Projections section, then clicking Copy values.

Modifying a projection

You can use the Modify selected cell button to increase or decrease a column or some cells in a column by a certain percentage.

For example, you might have entered values for 2016, and then decide your 2017 values should by the 2016 values plus 8%. To do this

Fill in your 2016 column values

Add a column for 2017 if one doesn't already exist

Use the Copy values button to copy 2016 to 2017

Drag to highlight all rows in the 2017 column

Enter 8 in the percentage field, then use theModify selected cell button to increase the 2017 values by 8%.

If you are using projections, you are responsible to fill in future values for the period to be covered by your ordering. Leaving future projections at zero will have potentially serious consequences.

BEWARE! Once set, this option will continue to govern for every forecast generated by mSupply for this item until you re-set forecasting to the default (use of historical AMC).

Where does mSupply use forecasts?

Any time mSupply produces a suggested order quantity, it will consider each item and use the forecast options for that item to produce a forecast. This includes:

Creating a new tender[7]

The suggested order report

Creating a new purchase order[8]

Inventory adjustments

Items → Inventory adjustments

Choose Items > Show inventory adjustments

Inventory adjustments allow you to increase or decrease the stock of an item that is recorded in mSupply®. You will need to adjust the inventory if:

Stock is discarded (due to damage or expiry)

You do a Stocktake and find that physical stock is different to the stock recorded in mSupply®. In this case the first thing to do is to see if you can find out where a mistake may have been made in issuing stock. For example, you may be able to retrieve extra stock mistakenly given to a client, or may need to ask a supplier for an order that has been entered but never actually received.

Stock has been stolen.

As a general rule, consider using a regular invoice to account for any transactions with a customer or supplier. Only use an inventory adjustment as a last resort.

If you are doing a “normal” stocktake, it's better to use the stocktake module described here as it will create the needed inventory adjustments automatically.

Inventory adjust - add stock...

Choose Items > Inventory adjust (Add stock) Use this function when you have performed a stocktake and find that the physical stock of an item or items exceeds the amount recorded in mSupply®.

A transaction that is like a supplier invoice will be created. Enter the details in just the same way you would as if you were receiving goods from a supplier, except that mSupply® fills in the Name field for you automatically, and does not allow you to edit it.

After a stocktake, this can be used to adjust any stock lines where the stock recorded in mSupply® is less than the physical stock.

You will be asked to enter the margin when starting this transaction. For a normal inventory adjustment, set this to zero. If you are using this procedure to enter stock when starting to use mSupply® for the first time, enter the percentage to apply here.

Inventory adjust - reduce stock...

Use this function when you have done a stocktake and find that the physical stock of an item or items is less thanthe amount recorded in mSupply®. A transaction that is just like a customer invoice will be created, except that you do not choose the customer. The section on entering customer invoices describes the entry procedure. See the section on Issuing goods - Customer invoices here[9]

Inventory adjustments are treated by mSuppy as a kind of Supplier invoice (or credit). To view or edit an inventory adjustment, Choose the “Show inventory adjustments” option from the “Item” menu.

Previous: Stocktakes Next: Units

Items

Items → Item Basics

An item in mSupply® is usually a product that you purchase and supply. However, there are also other types of items:

A service item has no stock, but can still be added to customer invoices and charged for. Service item examples are a freight charge, a consultation fee, an express delivery fee, etc.

A cross reference item points to another item, so that when it is chosen in a list, it is substituted with the item to which it refers. This allows you to have items in your system that are referred to by trade name, but are only issued according to their generic name.

Managing items is mostly done from the Item menu. This menu also contains commands for managing lists related to items such as accounts, drug interactions and units.

For how to add a new item, see Adding a New item

The Item Menu

Show items....

Use this command for editing or viewing just about any information about an item

First you are presented with a window asking you to enter either as much of the item code or name as you know:

Click the Find button or press “return” when you want to proceed. If only one item was found its details are displayed, otherwise you will be shown a list of matching choices. An item is considered to have been matched if its name or item code starts with the characters entered.

The Complex find button gives you access to a more powerful query editor where you can find a very specific set of items. A tutorial on using the query editor is to be found here[10].

To do a “contains” search, use the wildcard character '@'; e.g. entering “@250” will find all items with “250” anywhere in their name.

If you want a list of all items, leave the search field blank and click the Find button.

Double-click the item in the list that you want to view.

The Items list view

New item: Click this button to enter the details of a new item you are adding to your inventory. You can find out how to do this here

Report: Click this button to open a report editor window where you can design a report. The report will use the currently displayed records (not the highlighted records).

Set values: A flag is a quick way of identifying a group of items for use in a report.

* You can set and remove flags for multiple items at the same time. To do so, hold down the control key (command key on Mac) and click on the lines you wish to flag. They will become highlighted. Then click the “set flags” button. You will be shown a window like this:

We recommend you use a single character (or two) as the flag.

If you choose Append to existing flags, any items with existing flags will have the new flag added to the end of the flag. If you choose Replace existing flags, then the selected items will have their flags cleared. Note that you can clear all flags for all items by selecting all items (control - A) then leaving the Set flag to. field blank, clicking “Replace existing flags”, and then clicking the OK button.

Find: Clicking this button displays the Find window, the same as if you had chosen Items > Show items.

Order by: Clicking this button will bring up the standard Order by window, where you can choose fields by which to sort the displayed items

Print: Click this button to print the items currently displayed in a list.

Modify: Click this button to show details for the first record that is highlighted. Clicking the OK and Next button in the item details window will jump to the next highlighted record. To select multiple records, hold down the control key (command on Mac) while you click on the records you wish to select.

Duplicate: Click this button to create a new item with the same details as the selected item. A message box like the one below will appear. Click on button Duplicate to confirm creating the item. Note that the only difference you will see between the existing item and the newly created item is the name of the new item contains the text '(copy)'.

Note that for recording and audit purposes a Log event is created when an item is duplicated. For more information on log events see The Log[11]

Customise list: Clicking this button will show a window where you can choose which fields from the items table are shown in the list view. See Working with lists.[12]

The Item Details Window

Buttons in the item details window

Delete: Provided that an item has no transactions, quotes, order lines or backorder lines, it can be deleted, and this button performs that action.

Once you have received stock for an item, it cannot be deleted. You can delete an item immediately after you have created it or imported it. Note that if you have imported an item and stock, you can delete it, and it's associated stock will be deleted too (but not once it has been used in a transaction such as an invoice or build).

OK & Next: Saves changes, exits the window, then brings up the next item in the item list. If you did not have an item list open, or if you have reached the last item in the list, you will be returned to the list or the initial menus, depending on your starting point.

Cancel: Exits the window without saving changes.

Changes you have made to quotes, notes and backorders will be saved, even if you click Cancel .

OK: Saves changes then exits the window.

Tabs on the Item Details Window

The item details window displays a vertical list of 'tabs' down the left side. Click on the appropriate item to view a 'tab' displaying particular information about an item. The Item Details Window normally opens at the General tab.

The General tab

What are those lock icons? To minimise the chance of accidental amendment, some critical fields have a lock icon to the left of it. To change any of these fields, you must click on the lock icon first, and then enter the new value in the field.

Item name: This is the name by which mSupply will refer to the item.

Store: The store which you are using is displayed here. For mSupply systems that are only using a single store, this field is not relevant. For users managing more than one store, the desired store may be selected from the drop down menu. For users having access to all stores, and wishing to work with the cumulative data from them all, one of the options displayed will be “Supervisor - All stores” - refer Miscellaneous topics, Supervisor Mode[13].

You should avoid changing the name of an item to that of another item. If you have accidentally created two copies of the same item, these should be merged - refer Merging two items.

Historical records will still record the original name, but future invoices and invoices in process will pick up the new name when you add or edit an invoice line.

Item code: This is the code assigned to the item. This should be a unique code, and ideally, should not be a part of another code. For example, 1034 is unique, but is a part of 1034a, and so these two codes should ideally not coexist in an mSupply system.

General

Units: Choose the unit you use for this item. It is useful to distinguish items you issue by pack (eg eye drops) from items you issue by volume (eg oral liquids)

Department: You can assign each item to a department by choosing from the list of departments here. To set up departments, refer Managing Item Access....

Category: Provided that you have defined item categories, the appropriate category should be selected using the drop down list which displays your defined categories - refer Item categories.

Interaction group: Here you can choose the interaction group for the item - refer Manage drug interaction groups.

Item Flag: The item flag field is designed for bulk editing, where you use the list view to update many items at once. You can enter or edit an individual item's flag(s) here, though it can be easier to do so using The list view.

Catalogue code: Frequently organisations may apply a second code to an item - e.g. one for auditing purposes, in addition to one for general use. This field allows the entry of such a code.. Provided the Include catalogue code for each item box is checked under Preferences > Misc, a report on Catalogue codes may be produced.

Hold: do not issue: If this box is checked, the item will not be available to be issued on invoices. It will still appear in lists, but you will get a warning if you choose it when issuing stock, and will be required to choose a different item.

Putting the Item on hold applies to all batches of the item in your system. If you wish to hold selected batches only, you should do that through by editing the individual stock lines using Show items with stock.

Issue in builds only: Checking this box will mean that the item cannot be issued on customer invoices. This is useful in situations like where an item which by law can not be sold in an unprocessed state, but is used to 'build' (refer Building (Manufacturing) Items) another item which is legal for distribution.

Allow pack to one conversion: Checking this box allows stock of the item to be repacked to “1”.

Convert pack to one when receiving: If this box is checked, when you receive items the pack size will automatically be converted to “1”. This is primarily for use in dispensary mode, but may be useful in other situations too.

For example: say you receive 50 x 100 boxes of paracetamol tablets, but you issue variable amounts of paracetmol tablets on invoices. If this option is checked, as you receive the stock on a supplier invoice, it will be converted to 5000 (quantity) x 1 (pack size). You will now be able to issue any quantity you like. The cost and sell price are automatically adjusted for the new pack size.

Shelf locations

Shelf Location: The default shelf location for this item in this store. When you receive items into stock, they will be given the shelf location you enter here unless a different location is chosen. Type as much of the location (ie the first few characters) or code as you know, then press the Tab key. If only one location code matches your entry it will be filled in automatically, otherwise you will be shown a standard choice list like this:

Select the location you want by double-clicking a line or by clicking once on the line and then clicking OK

Each batch of stock can have its own shelf location, or can share a location with another item.

Bulk Shelf Location: Similar to shelf location but it is used to store bulk quantities of goods/items. You can enter a code here in the same manner as for the Shelf Location.

Preferred pack size: This is the default pack size that will be chosen when receiving new goods or adding an item to a purchase order. It will also be used for comparison of quotations from suppliers (i.e. the adjusted price used when comparing quotations is the price if all quotes for for the pack size defined here.

Restricted to Here you can choose from a list of Location types. For example, all cool store locations could have been given a type of “cool” and then if the item you are editing should be kept in a cool store, choose that type here, and you will only be able to receive that item into a cool store location.

Volume per pack: If you are using available volume tracking in your warehouse, then fill in the default volume for one pack of the preferred packsize of the item here.

mSupply® always stores volumes as m3 (cubic metres), but you can enter a volume as millilitres (mL), litres (L) also.

You enter | Value displayed | mSupply® stores
30ml | 30ml | 0.00003 m3
1500L | 1.5 m3 | 1.5 m3
600 L | 600 L | 0.6 m3
1500 ml | 1.5 L | 0.0015 m3

Outer pack size: The number of default packs per default outer pack

Outer pack volume: The volume for the default outer pack. This may be different to an exact multiple of the volume per default pack you entered above, as outer packs may have their own packing. (For example, vaccine packs may come in an insulated container.)

Weight per pack: The weight of a default pack in kg.

Pricing

Default margin: This is the margin that will be applied to this item on supplier invoices to calculate the selling price. Note that if a supplier margin is also set, there is a setting in the Preferences > Invoices 1 that determines which margin will be used. Note also that if a default selling price is set, this price will take priority and be used rather than the margin.

Default sell price of preferred pack size: Only enter a price here if you want a fixed selling price for this item. Enter the price for one unit (eg 1 capsule or 1 gm). A price entered here will override any margins you have specified for either the supplier or the item.

Price editable when issuing: Check this box to enable this feature

Full description

This field may be used for entering a fuller description of the item should the item name alone be insufficient.

VEN Category

VEN category options available are:

Not assigned

Vital

Essential

Necessary

The appropriate box should be checked.

Authorities, including the WHO, are inconsistent on whether N should stand for Necessary or Not Essential. It makes no difference to mSupply, but if you want this changed in your installation of mSupply, talk to Sustainable Solutions

Stock Category

Options available are:

Normal stock

Critical stock

On Essential Drugs list

The appropriate box should be checked.

Custom fields

These are 7 fields available for users to store information appropriate to their operation. These fields may be queried when performing a search or producing a custom report. Their default names are user_field_1, user_field_2, etc.., but these labels may easily be edited to more descriptive ones as required..

Field types:

Fields 1,2,3 & 6 are text fields

Field 5 is a numerical field

Fields 4 & 7 are boolean - True/False (Yes /No) entry.

To set the names of the user fields, refer General Preferences, Miscellaneous tab[14].

The Misc(ellaneous) tab

This window has settings for:

cautionary warnings used when dispensing medicines

accounts used when exporting transaction information

SMS (text) messaging

Price list

Warnings: Warnings which apply to this item are chosen from a standard list. This list is set up using the Special > Warnings menu.

Use the Add button to add a warning for the item. This will open the below window where you can choose the warning from a list. Double click on the warning you want to use. You may also add new warnings to the list by clicking the new button.

To delete a warning, click on its line then click the Delete button.

When an item has more than one warning, the warning that has priority will be automatically printed on the label. You can add other warnings as part of the label directions if required.

To give a warning priority, double-click its line in the list and check the Priority box:

A warning's text may only be edited by choosing Warnings from the Special menu

Accounts: You can set the general ledger account to be used for exporting purchase and supply transactions involving this item here.

To set each account enter a portion of the account description or code and press the Tab key. You will be shown a standard choice list if more than one account matches what you typed.

SMS settings: These settings concern the item and SMS messages from mobile phones.

SMS code: This is the code that will be entered in an SMS to refer to the item. Keep the code short and unique! If you change this code you must notify all the users who send SMS messages to mSupply about the new code, otherwise they will not know how to refer to this item in their SMS messages. Because of this, you can only change this item after you 'unlock' the padlock next to it by clicking on it. When you unlock the padlock you will be shown a warning that SMS users must be told about the new code.

SMS pack size: The pack size to use to convert the pack size quantities entered in an SMS message into item quantities. You must enter a value greater than or equal to 1 for this if you have entered an SMS code. Otherwise this field is ignored.

Price List

On Price list: If this box is checked, this item will be included when the price list is produced - refer Other Reports[15].

Catalogue price: The price for the item that will be used when you produce the price list

Catalogue pack size: The pack size for the item that will be used when you produce the price list

The Catalogue pack size can differ from the preferred pack size on the General tab

The Usage tab

The Usage tab allows you to view the item usage per month for the previous 24 months. This information is very useful for quickly spotting a trend in usage for a particular item.

Below the list of usage for each month there is a popup menu to choose from 1 to 24 months. After choosing a value the average usage and the standard deviation for the period in question will be shown.

Show Graph button: Clicking this button shows the same information in a graphical format.

Refresh usage button: This button allows you to update the usage with transactions that were added since you opened the window (this applies to multi-user mode). It also allows you to show the usage with or without build transctions included in the totals, depending on whether or not the include builds checkbox is checked.

The Stock tab

The “Stock” window shows the lines of stock for this item together with the stock on hand. mSupply® will calculate how many days this stock will last, based on your usage over a number of months - you can specify how many months.

If you have turned on any of the custom stock fields in store preferences[16] they will be displayed as columns (between the Supplier and Manufacturer columns) in the list of stock lines on this tab and the information you entered for these fields when the stock was received will be shown in the appropriate cells.

Show zero lines: This button will show all the lines that are still in your data file, but which have no stock on hand. If you can think of a use for this information, please let us know! When you click the button the button title changes to “hide zero lines”, which allows you to get back to the info you really wanted.

Splitting: There may be occasions when you need to split your stock- e.g. if you are moving it, say, from a store to a dispensary or clinic, or when you are repacking some stock; select the line to be split, and click on the Split icon to show a window allowing you to enter the quantity to be split, the new location, and - if applicable - the new pack size.

In the example shown, 2 packs of 1,000 Erythromycin tablets are being transferred to a new location, and the `outer' of 1,000 ( actually 10 x100 shrink wrapped together) is being opened to yield 10 individual packs of 100.

Update sell prices: Clicking on this icon will update the selling prices of the highlighted line(s). mSupply® will use the figure entered in the Default sell price of preferred packsize field in the General tab, which must show the updated price before this will take effect. If you make use of the Default margin field, and you update this figure, then Supply® will calculate the updated sell price using it. Note that mSupply® looks first in the Default sell price … field, and any figure entered there takes precedence.

Labels: Clicking this button will print shelf labels for the highlighted batch(es). The shelf label includes the location, the item name and code, and the batch and expiry. Here's a (bad) example

Show related invoices

Highlight a line then click on this button to display a list of transactions which used this particular line.

Consolidate

You can consolidate (join 2 batches together) if they have

The same batch #

The same expiry

The same pack size

Are at the same location. If 2 batches you want to consolidate are at different locations, use the split button to move one of the batches to the location of the other batch, then consolidate. In the warehouse this is what you would have had to do anyhow!

Hold down the control key (command on Mac)

Click on the two lines you want to consolidate

Click consolidate

If the two batches are at different locations you'll be warned and asked if you want to continue.

You're shown this window

Choose which batch to keep.

Click OK

An example:

Before:

After:

Other information on the stock details page

Stock

Minimum stock: The minimum stock you wish to keep on hand. Note that you do not need to enter a quantity here for mSupply®'s ordering system to work. In fact, it is better in most cases to leave this number set to zero. This field should only be filled in if you absolutely must keep a minimum on hand. For example, if you stock naloxone for narcotic over dosage reduction, and even if you only use 1 vial every year, you have decided you need to keep five vials on hand, you would enter “5” as the minimum quantity for naloxone.

Stock on hand: The total stock of this item on hand.

Stock on order: The total quantity of stock of this item on order from suppliers

Non-stock items

If this is a non-stock item, you can check this check box. If there is one, you can specify the default customer for the item, otherwise leave this box blank. For more on this topic see Non-stock items

Months Cover

You can use this calculator to estimate the time left until the stock of this item runs out. The values which appear estimating the time it takes to use the stock on hand (and on order) are calculated from the average usage of the last few months. You can choose the number (from 1 to 24) of months used to calculate this in the drop down list.

You can also exclude stock that will expire soon. Enter a number of months and any stock that expires before your chosen time frame will be excluded from the calculation.

If you would like to know how much stock to order so that you have enough for the next few months, enter the number of months you would like stock for. After entering or changing any or all of these values, click Calculate to see the results.

Editing a stock line

To edit the cost price and selling price for an item line, double-click the line you wish to edit. Note that only users in the level 1 or level 2 access groups are permitted to edit stock lines.

The Item stock line details window is displayed:

The Stock lines > General tab

This tab shows the details of a stock line.It also gives you total and available quantity of that stock line.

Hold checkbox: To hold a batch check the Hold check-box. Once an item is held, it cannot be issued. It will still appear in the available stock window, but held lines will have a check box in the hold column, and if a user attempts to issue the line they will be informed that the line is on hold. Note that the Hold: do not issue option in the General options takes precedence, and if that option is checked, then no stock may be issued, regardless of batch.

The Stock lines > Ledger tab

This tab shows a list of supplier and customer invoices for the item batch being viewed. You can use this window to view immediately the list of customers who have been supplied with this particular batch.

The Stock lines > Status tab (Vaccine vial monitoring)

A window appears with 4 columns:

Date

VVM status

Entered by

Comment

There are two buttons:

New

Delete.

This has been specifically designed to use the Vaccine Vial Monitoring (VVM) feature. All vaccines requiring cold storage bear a VVM label which registers cumulative heat exposure over time; the combined effects of heat and time cause the inner square of the label to darken gradually and irreversibly. A comprehensive description of VVM is available in the WHO's pdf document accessible here[17].

Batches of vaccines should have their status VVM labels regularly checked, and assigned to the relevant status; Clicking on the New button allows the details to be recorded.

Should a batch of vaccines have the status 3 (or 4), the Hold checkbox under the General tab should be checked.

The Stock lines > Reference Documents tab

The standard Document Management window appears. See Reference documents[18] for more information on the use of such documents.

The Ledger tab

The item Ledger tab lists all the transactions for the item in question for the period selected according to the choice available in the Show drop down list.

The default is to show all transactions, but in the example displayed, Customer transactions has been chosen.

Filtering the ledger list:

Two drop down lists are available:

You can use the Show…. drop-down list to show:

All transactions

Only supplier transactions

Only customer transactions

Inventory adjustments

Repacks

Transactions whose status is `New'

Transactions whose status is `Suggested'

Transactions whose status is `New or suggested'

Transactions for just one name (click on a transaction line for the name you are interested in)

Transactions for one particular item line. This will show the supplier invoice on which the item line was received, and all subsequent issues of that item line to customers.

Same batch as selected - this will show all the supplier invoice on which the batch was received, and all subsequent issues of that batch to customers. This can be useful for tracing a particular batch of medicines.

The other drop down list allows selection from a variety of periods during which transactions occurred.

Tip: Clicking on the column headings of the transaction list will sort the list by the information in that column. The column header will be underlined to show by which column the list is sorted.

Note: If the cost price column is blank, this is because the current user does not have permission to view cost prices. (This option can be turned on or off for each user from the “File > edit users…” menu item).

If you want to view an invoice for one of the displayed lines, simply double-click the line you are interested in. The invoice (or payment, as the case may be) will be shown in a new window.

Print

Clicking this button will give you the following printing choices:

the information currently displayed in the window

a complete ledger from the start of your year

stock movement for a specific period or between two dates of your choice

The Quotes tab

A quotation is a record of a price you have been given by a supplier. For each item you can have multiple quotes recorded, reflecting different prices you have been quoted from different suppliers, or even different prices from the one supplier for different pack sizes.

When you come to compare quotes, there are several factors that need to be taken into account. By entering the information in mSupply® you are able to find the best price once these factors have been taken into account, and you build a history of quotations from each supplier.

The date until which the quote is valid is displayed, and you can choose to display all quotes, or currently valid quotes.

There may be occasions when a supplier has quoted for an item from two or more manufacturers, and in such cases, the manufacturer's name will appear in the column headed Manufacturer .

Cost: Cost is the price for that pack size in your local currency, taking into account the freight factor and the exchange rate.

Adjusted cost: Adjusted cost is the price for your “preferred pack size” you have entered for that item. This second price allows for a direct comparison between suppliers. Note that if you change the “preferred pack” for an item, all your quotes will be updated to reflect the new pack size.

Comparing quotes:: Click “Adj cost” heading in the list of quotes to bring the cheapest quote to the top of the list.

Add a new quote

Click the “new quote” button. The quotes input window will open

Type as much of the supplier code as you know, then press the Tab key- you will be presented with a list of suppliers if there is more than one to choose from.

Enter the price and the pack size in the currency you have been quoted.

Note that the currency and freight factor are filled in with the information you have entered for the supplier.

If the supplier has quoted in a different currency to the supplier's default currency, you can change the currency for this quotation from the drop-down list on the right.

The freight factor is the factor you need to add to the supplier's prices to account for delivery costs. If your supplier includes these costs in the quoted price (i.e. prices are “CIF”), the freight factor for the supplier should be set to “1”. If your supplier adds freight that amounts to about 15% of the invoice price, set the freight factor to 1.15.

Strip pack: This check box allows easy identification of quotes that are for strip/blister packed items (as opposed to “loose” items).

Preferred: This check box allows you to identify one (or more) suppliers as the preferred supplier for the item. One of the ordering methods uses the “preferred” check box to indicate which items should be considered for ordering from a particular supplier. See Ordering from suppliers[19] for more details.

Supplier code: If you are using electronic invoice transfer, you must use this field to record the code for the item that this supplier uses on their electronic invoices.

Supplier bar code: Here you can record the bar code identifier for this product.

Price Break: Enter the quantity that generates a price break along with the percentage discount that will apply once this quantity is reached.

Freight: Enter the value for the preferred pack (outer pack) and the freight for that pack provided by the supplier.

Click OK to accept the details, or cancel if you decide not to add a quote for this item.

To modify a quote:

Double-click the line you want to edit.

In the window that appears you can change the date, the supplier, the price, the pack size, the Strip check box, or the Preferred check box.

To delete a quote:

Click on the quote line you wish to delete

Click the Delete quote button

Confirm that you want to proceed

The Backorders tab

You can view the backorders for an item here. To edit a backorder, double-click the line you wish to edit.

To add a new backorder for this item, click the New backorder button. This window will be shown:

Enter part of the customer name, then press Tab to search for the customer.

Enter the order date, quantity and any comment, then click OK to save the new backorder entry.

To delete a backorder, click the line you wish to delete, then click the Delete backorder button.

The total stock on backorder is shown below the list.

The Notes tab

You can add and edit notes for an item here.

Click the New note button to add a note. A note can be up to 32,000 characters.

The date on which you are entering the note is already completed, and in the main panel you should type in the wording of the note itself. In the lower left of the window is a drop-down list offering various choices concerning the displaying of the note on screen; it may appear as an alert when this item is issued on a customer invoice, received on a supplier invoice, or, if all is chosen, it will display for both customer and supplier invoices.

You may also set the background colour of the note, but as the text is always black, dark colours should be avoided. A further option allows you to have one or more audible `beeps' sound when the note is displayed. Each note will display according to the attributes set for it, independently of other notes defined for the same item.

Subsequently, when the item is selected (depending on the specified display settings), the note will appear on screen; be aware that the note does not disappear automatically - you must close it/them manually.

To edit a note, double-click the note in the list you want to edit.

The Reconcile tab

Clicking the Reconcile button will give a summary of usage.

It is useful for checking mSupply® is working as it should be! If you get an error here it is most likely due to your using mSupply® when a power failure occurred. In multi-user versions we are able to provide you with a log file that will allow you to incorporate transactions entered even if a power failure has occurred. In normal use, with a UPS, mSupply® will automatically save data and you will not see an error here.

The Bill of Materials tab

This may not be showing if you do not have a registration for mSupply® that enables manufacturing, or the buttons may be dimmed so you can not make entries if your user permissions do not allow you to view Bills of Materials.

Here you can specify a Bill of Materials for the item if it is a manufactured item. Once you have done so, and have checked the Use a Bill of Materials to manufacture this item check box, when you enter a new build, it can be automatically filled out with the correct materials (ingredients) and the correct quantities for the total to be manufactured.

Use a bill of materials to manufacture this item: If this check box (1) is not checked, the bill of materials (if one has been entered) will not be used when manufacturing builds.

New ingredient: This button(2) allows you to add items to the bill of materials.

You will be shown a window like this:

Enter the start of the item name or code then press the Tab key. If only one matching entry is found, you can then enter the quantity. otherwise you will be shown a list of matching items. Double-click the item you wish to use.

Click the OK button when you have finished, and the item will be added to the bill of materials for the item you are editing.

Note: (3) Be careful to enter quantities corresponding to the units you have specified for the item.

Delete ingredient: To delete an ingredient, first click on the ingredient you wish to delete so that it is highlighted, then click this button.

Print: This button allows you to print the bill of materials that is displayed.

Quantity of finished product this bill of materials is for: This is the total quantity of this item that will be produced by the bill of materials that is entered for the item. Be careful to set this quantity and the units correctly.

Manufacture Method: This panel may be used to record the steps in the manufacturing process. When you are entering a build you have the option to print the manufacture method along with the build ingredient list. For more information see Building (Manufacturing) Items

The Purchase Orders Tab

The Show drop down list beside allows filtering the display of Purchase Orders according to their status - All, Suggested, etc. -

If you double-click a row the Purchase order will be opened in a new window.

The Order Options tab

Never order this item: If you have items that are “one-offs” or have been discontinued, use this check box to stop them appearing in orders.

Hold: do not receive: If this check-box is checked, you can not receive this item. This can be useful if you have changed to using a different item, and you do not want people to accidentally use the redundant item.

Expiry date required on receive: When this is checked, you will be unable to receive this item unless an expiry date is entered for it. Therefore it is best to check this box for items that will always have an expiry date such as oral medicines and to leave it unchecked for items that will never have an expiry date such as surgical instruments.

You will be warned if you try to add or edit an item on a goods receipt or a supplier invoice that has no expiry date entered. Also, you will not be able to finalise a goods receipt that contains items which have no expiry date entered.

The Dispensing tab

Default directions

A feature of mSupply® which can reduce the time taken to dispense a prescription is its use of abbreviated patient directions, which allows the entry of a short sequence of characters that expand to meaningful text. This is where you can set an item's default directions which will be used at the time of dispensing. When there is more than one entry, priority is given to the direction that is ranked at no.1 under Priority, and it will be automatically suggested for the item when you dispense it. Further information on the use of abbreviations will be found in the section Dispensing, Abbreviations[20]

In cases where multiple abbreviated directions have been defined, the required one(s) will be available from a drop-down list when dispensing the item. Note that even if you set up default directions, you can override these at the time of dispensing, either with longhand text or by editing the abbreviation that has been entered.

Warning: If you choose to use this option be very careful to:

Inform other users that default directions have been entered.

Ensure the directions are appropriate.

Check each prescription dispensed, and change the directions if the prescription has different directions to the default set.

Update the default directions if you change any of the abbreviations.

Add button: Click this button to show a window where you can add directions. You can enter any combination of directions and text. (Abbreviations are managed by choosing Special > Abbreviations)

Delete button: Click a line, then click this button to delete directions you no longer need, or if you have made an error.

Picture, Instructions and Purpose

These fields provide default information to be used with the Patient medication records system.

Item Picture: You can drag and drop or past a picture into this field. Common file formats such as JPG and PNG are accepted.

When you add a picture, the size is shown to the left- we suggest pictures are less than 200KB each.

To clear a picture, click on the field and paste it.

Purpose: Enter the purpose of the medication here. This will be available to add to patient medication records

Instructions: Enter the medication instructions here. For example, you might want to explain about sensitivity to sunlight with long term use, or that certain foods should be avoided. This will be available to add to patient medication records. Note this is separate to the medication warnings system, which will print on dispensing labels.

Other fields

Warn if user tries to issue more than field: You can enter a number here and have the user warned if they try to dispense more than this quantity.

The Reporting tab

ATC Category: This field is intended for the ATC code. The use of ATC codes and DDD values is discussed in detail here[21].

DDD value: The DDD value is the defined daily dose of the item. For example, doxycycline's DDD value is 100mg., while that of Amoxycillin is 1g. DDDs are a means of quantifying the issue of medicines by doses rather than by the raw number of units dispensed.

DDD factor: Defined Daily Dose factor- this is the number of units of the item that make up the DDD value. In the case of amoxycillin 250mg capsules the DDD factor is 4, while amoxycillin 500mg capsules have a factor of 2. For Doxycycline 100mg tablets the DDD factor is 1

ABC category: This option allows you to mark items that are commonly used and then report on only those items. For Reports using this category, see Items and Stock reports[22]

The Log Tab

mSupply® maintains a record of any changes to an item's details - name, code or units. The log window displays a list of such changes, under the headings:

Date

Time

User and Event

Requisitions

Selecting Requisitions shows the stocktakes featuring this item,

Choose a date range from the drop-down list to show custom stocktakes within that range.

Double-click a row to view the customer stocktake in question.

The Stores tab

Only users who have Admin privileges may access this feature. See Managing Users[23]

Selecting this item shows the stores where this item is visible, and allows these stores to be set to Active using the checkbox.

If the Active checkbox is unchecked, the item will not be visible when logged in to that store

Note that

you can only change the visibility of an item for the store you're logged in to.

you can not make an item invisible in a store if it has stock on hand in that store.

Seeing an invisible item

Once an item has been made invisible it will no longer show up in your items list when performing a normal find items task. To include invisible items when finding items, untick the Exclude hidden items box:

The items list will now display any invisible items and you will be able to able to make them visible again in the store tab.

If your mSupply system is a Primary - Satellite synced system, you can only change visibility of items on the Primary server.

Previous: Working with lists[24] Next: Adding items

Item categories

Items → Item categories

Item categories are a great way of grouping your items. This enables you, for example, to report on specific groups of products by filtering by item category. This can be extremely helpful.

mSupply provides 4 different categories (called category 1, category 2, category 3 and VEN) for you to use. Category 2 and 3 are normal categories but 1 is a bit special - it's hierarchical and has 3 levels (level 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 is the top level, level 3 is the bottom). VEN refers to the WHO categories of Vital, Essential and Nonessential.

Be careful not to get mixed up between the levels of category 1 (1, 2, and 3) and the different categories (1, 2, 3 and VEN) themselves here!

Category 1 categories

Selecting Show Item Categories from the Item menu opens the window appearing below, showing all the category 1 categories in their 3 levels by default (Note that the 3 “None” categories are default categories and cannot be renamed or removed): In the screenshot you can see that “6.Antiinfectives” is a top level (level 1) category 3 category. It has 3 level 2 child categories: “6.1 Antiinfectives, anthelmintics”, “6.2 Antiinfectives, antiamoebic/antigiardics” and “6.3 Antiinfectives, antibacterials”. And level 2 category “6.2 Antiinfectives, antiamoebic/antigiardics” has a single level 3 category “Antileprosy medicines”.

Clicking on any of the categories will show you which items are assigned to that category in the panel on the right hand side of the screenshot.

Adding category 1 categories

To add a category at level 1, 2 or 3, click on another category at the same level you want the new one to be, click on the Add button (or the Add child button if you want the new category to be a child of the category you selected) shown in the screenshot and the new level will appear at the bottom of the categories pane called “Click to edit” and already selected. Click on it once and type the category's name. When you're done click outside the category and that's it!

Editing category 1 categories

Renaming a category is simple. Click once on the category you want to rename to select it then click on it again to edit the name: the category will become a text box and you can type the new name. When you've finished editing the name, simply click outside the textbox (but inside the category pane) and the new name will be saved.

Changing the parent of a category is almost as simple. You simply click on the category once to select it then click on it again, drag it onto its new parent (or a sibling of the new parent) and let go of the mouse button. Two things to note here:

You can only move a category to a position at the same level. If it's a level 3 category then you can only drop it onto a level 2 category or another level 3 category. If you drag a level 3 category onto a level 1 category nothing will happen. For example: in the screenshot you could drag category “6.1 Antiinfectives, anthelmintics” onto category “1. Anaesthetics” or onto category “4.2 Antidotes, specific” and it would move (to become a child of category “1. Anaesthetics” or “4. Antidotes”). But if you dragged it onto category “6.2.3 Antileprosy medicines” it would not move (this is a level 3 category, 1 level below “6.1 Antiinfectives, anthelmintics” so the move is not allowed).

If you move a category which has any child categories, all the child categories will be moved too. For example: in the screenshot you could drag category “6.1 Antiinfectives, anthelmintics” onto category “4.2 Antidotes, specific” and it would move to become a child of category “4. Antidotes”. It's child (“6.1.3 Antischistosomals…”) would remain its child and become a grandchild of “4.2 Antidotes, specific”.

Deleting category 1 categories

This is the simplest of all. Select the category you want to delete by clicking on it and then click on the Delete button. After confirming you want to delete the category it will be deleted. mSupply will not allow you to delete categories that have items assigned to them - it will warn you that you have to remove the items from the category first. See the Assigning items to categories section below for details on how to do this.

Category 2 and 3 categories

Category 2 and 3 categories are simpler - they are not hierarchical. To view the category 2 or 3 item categories select Show Item Categories from the Item menu and change the Show drop down list at the top of the window to “Category 2” or “Category 3” and the window will change to look like the screenshot below:

The window shows a list of the existing categories of this type.

Save sort order button: The sort order of the categories is the order they will appear in the list when you are assigning items to the categories (see the Assigning items to categories section below) or when you're selecting them in a filter e.g. for a report. You can drag the categories up and down the list to give them the order you want them to appear in. When you are happy with the order, click on the Save sort order button and the order will be saved.

New button: Clicking on this will take you to the edit category window shown below:

Simply type the name of the category shown in the Item category textbox and click on the OK button to create the new category

If you double click on a category in the list you will also be taken to the edit category window where you can edit the category's name, see which items have been assigned to the category, delete the category (click on the Delete button).

VEN Categories

mSupply allows you to categorise items according to the World Health Organisation categories of:

Vital - medicines are potentially lifesaving, have significant withdrawal side effects (making regular supply mandatory), or are crucial to providing basic health services.

Essential - medicines are effective against less severe but nevertheless significant forms of illness but are not absolutely vital to providing basic health care.

Necessary - this group of drugs is used for minor, or self- limiting illnesses, and those which have a comparatively high cost for additional therapeutic value. It includes drugs which are prescribed but which provide useful alternative therapy.

You can use these categories to make purchasing decisions using reports such as the Suggest Order Quantities[25] report.

Assigning items to categories

Once you have set up the categories, all items can be assigned to their appropriate category. This is performed on the Item details window under the General tab (get here from File > Show items, click on the Find button and double click on the item you want to add to a category):

To assign the item to a category 2 or category 3 category, select the correct category from the Category2 or Category 3 drop down lists.

To assign the item to a category 1 category click on the magnifying glass next to the Category box. The following window will open:

If the item is already assigned to a category then that category is highlighted in the list

If you want to change the item's category, simply select the level 3 (bottom level) category you want to assign the item to, and click on the OK button

If you want to remove the item from all category 1 categories, select the level 3 “None” category in the list.

You can assign an item to a category 1, 2 and 3 category at the same time.

Previous: Adding items Next: Items - Master lists

Locations and Location types

Items → Locations

Keeping track of where items are in your store is an important part of good warehouse practice. You don't want to have to go hunting through your whole store for an item, wasting time and energy when mSupply can tell you exactly where it is!

Locations in mSupply are the places you store items. Locations can have types (e.g. normal, cold, bulk…) to help you categorise them, you can define parent/child relationships between locations to help you manage them effectively and you can even create a line drawing plan of the location to pictorially show the layout of your store.

If you use location types it will help you if they are defined before the locations that belong to them otherwise they won't be available to select when defining a location - and you'll have to go back later and edit the locations. What a waste of time! So this section explains location types first and goes on to explain about locations.

Location types

Location types give you the ability to categorise your locations. They can be used for reporting on a group of locations, but also to restrict the locations that can be used for a particular item. For setting the location type for an item, see Item basics

Choose Item > Show location types to define or show a list of available location types.

The window that appears allows you to define the criteria for the various types of location in your store - e.g. the permitted temperature range, whether location must be dark, etc.

Adding a location type

Click on New , and the window that appears allows you to enter a name for the storage type, and the permitted conditions pertaining to that storage type.:

In the above example, a storage type “Refrigerator” has been defined, the permitted range of temperature being 2o C - 8o C.

Having defined your storage types, the Show location types window might look like this:

It is worth emphasising that the list does not show the actual store locations, but the types of locations.

Editing a location type

Should you wish to edit the details of any location type, double click on it in the list and change the details in the window which appears.

Locations

Viewing locations

To view the locations you have defined choose Item > Show locations and you will see a list of location codes and descriptions:

From this window you can view, edit and remove locations and their details - this is the 'location management' window. Here are the various functions of the window:

New location icon: Click this to add a location (see 'Adding a location' below).

Print icon: Click this to print the list of locations displayed in the window (see 'Printing the locations list' below).

Show warehouse icon: Click this to see a graphical representation of your warehouse. This representation shows all the layouts of the individual locations that you have created in the layout tab when adding a location (see 'Adding a location' below).

Search location: Enter some text in the text field and the list is updated as you type to show only the locations whose code or description starts with the text you have entered.

view and edit a location's details: Double click on a location in the list - see 'Viewing and editing a location' below. All the details are editable. See the 'Adding a location' section below for the meaning of the individual details.

Adding a location

Before you can associate an item with a specific location (e.g. Shelf D4, Refrigerator 2, etc.) you must define the locations in mSupply. To add a new location, click on the New location icon in the View locations window shown above. You will be shown the following window, where you can enter the details of the new location:

Code: This is how you refer to the location in mSupply and, for example, what you will select when you set an item's location.

Description: This is a description of the location e.g. “Top shelf of refrigerator 3” or “3rd shelf up in rack E” to help you identify it or remember something important about it. You will only see this in the list of locations shown above.

General tab

Under this tab, you enter the location's main details:

Location Type: Select one from the location types you have already entered (see Location types section above).

Each item can have a Restricted to Location type set, and then you will only be able to store that item in a location with that type:

You can set the location type for an item by viewing the item's general tab, and choosing the type from the drop-down list (Items/Show Items/Find Items - double click applicable item):

Parent: Select one from the locations already entered in mSupply. This is the location to which the location you are adding belongs. This is for descriptive purposes and does not have any functional effect in mSupply, except when viewing the warehouse layout.

Summary: Checking this means that the location is a summary location only and cannot be used for storing items. This is normally checked for all locations that are parents of others.

Comment: You can note anything you need to remember or indicate to others in here. It is only visible if you view the location's details (Item > Show locations, double click on the item in the list) later.

Total volume: The total volume of goods that you can store at the location. Volumes are stored in cubic metres [m³] but other volumes e.g. litres (l) may also be entered, provided the appropriate unit is entered following the number e.g. 5l for 5 litres. See the entry Volume per pack in Item edit - General options. Note that whatever you enter will be converted to and displayed in m³.

Knowing the volume of a location is important if, for example, you are replenishing your stock of vaccines, and you need to know if there is enough space available in the refrigerator in which you store vaccines to accommodate a new order (obviously, you would also need to know the volume of the vaccines that you are ordering).

Priority: This is used when printing a picking slip. Setting a priority for a location will override the default alphabetical ordering of shelf locations in a picking list. A location with a lower priority number will be printed before a location with a higher priority number. All locations with 0 priority are counted as having no priority and will be printed, in alphabetical order, after all locations with a priority.

Hold: If this is checked then goods in this location cannot be issued to customers. Goods can be put into the location but they cannot be issued. You could use this as a simple way of providing a permanent or temporary quarantine location.

Layout tab

Under this tab you can create a graphical plan view of the location in your store. This is useful for helping people to quickly locate any given location and presenting a graphical layout of your whole store. Locations are drawn as either rectangles (for which you enter the top left coordinate and the lengths of the 2 sides) or polygons (for which you enter a number of sequential coordinates which are connected with straight lines). Here's what the various input items mean for a rectangle, the rest we'll show you by the way of an example:

So, as an example, the coordinates are entered as above in the appropriate boxes, then the Draw button is clicked to produce the following display under the layout tab:

This has created a picture of location main1. This is the whole store or warehouse. You can't see the settings but this location will have no parent and will have its Summary checkbox checked (no items can be located here - it's just a summary location for descriptive purposes).

In our imaginary warehouse we have a set of open racking which is 'L'-shaped. We want to draw it in the warehouse so we create the location, call it 'sub1' and set its parent as Main1. If this set of shelves also has other locations in it we would also check its Summary checkbox.

To draw this location we click on the Layout tab and select Polygon as the object type. Click on the Add button to add a coordinate and then overwrite the zeros in the X and Y columns to give the correct coordinates. If you make a mistake, click on the set of coordinates in the list that is wrong and click on the Delete button to delete it. When all six co-ordinates have been entered, click on the Draw button to produce the layout displayed below:

You can do this same thing for all locations so that anyone can easily locate them in your store.

Viewing and Editing a location

As you already know from above, to view all the locations you have defined select Item > Show locations. To view and edit the details of a particular location, double click on that location in this list. You will be shown the following window:

General tab

This is the same as the General tab for adding a location (see the 'Adding a location' section above) except that its details are filled in with the details of the location you selected. To edit the details simply overwrite the current value with a new value or select another option as appropriate.

Layout tab

This is the same as the Layout tab for adding a location (see the 'Adding a location' section above) except that the current graphical representation of the location is displayed (if you've already created one). You can edit the plan view of the location if required by changing, adding or deleting co-ordinates.

Stock Tab

The Stock tab shows a list of existing stock lines stored in that particular location. A lot of information regarding the stock is displayed in the list and, as with most mSupply lists, it can be sorted on any column by clicking on the column heading:

If you want to know more information about any particular batch in the list, simply double click it and you'll be shown another window with lots of information about the batch, arranged in four tabs:

Deleting a location

To delete location you select Item > Show locations to view the list of locations, double click on the location you want to delete (as if you wanted to view all its details) and then click on the Delete button at the bottom of the window. If you confirm the deletion, the location is removed.

Merging two locations

If you want to remove a location from further use in mSupply (for example, you might have accidentally double-entered a location) this command can be used.

When you Choose Item > Merge two locations , this window is shown:

Use extreme caution! This operation will affect all historical records of the location you delete. They will be moved to the location you are keeping. The operation can only be undone by reverting to a backup copy of your data file.

In the window displayed enter the location to keep, and then the location to merge. When you have checked that the information is correct, click the OK button.

Previous: Item master lists Next: Manufactured items

Units

Items → Units

Choose Show units from the Items menu. When you have defined your units, a list is displayed:

Click the New button to add a new unit.

Note that you will need to have sufficient user permissions to use this function.

Do not change the record for one unit into a different unit, as all items using that unit will be updated.

Click the Merge button to merge two units. Note that duplicated units can occur on import of units or a user may duplicate a unit being unaware of one existing already. The below window appears to merge the units. The green boxed unit is the one that will be kept, the red boxed unit will be deleted.

Accounts...

Choose Show accounts from the Items menu. This window allows you to manage the range of accounts that can be assigned to items.

Account codes are used when exporting transaction data from mSupply® to external accounting software. Double-click a line to edit its details. Changing an account code or description will affect all items that are assigned to that account.

Click the New button to add a new account.

Fill in the code, description field and select the account type. The field Items that use this account code will display such items for each account code. Account types are Expense, Income and Asset .Click on OK button to add a new account, and Delete button to delete an account.

Previous: Inventory adjustments Next: Names: Using, adding and editing[26]

Building (Manufacturing) Items

Items → Manufacturing items

mSupply provides for a mechanism to manufacture (build) a new item from two or more existing items. A build is a way of recording items you have manufactured. That is, raw materials that are in your stock are used (taken out of stock), and a new stock item is created.

Note that you must have a version of mSupply® that allows use in manufacturing for this feature to be enabled.

Show builds...

From the Items page of the Navigator, click on the Show Builds button:

You will be shown the standard find window to enter either the number of recent builds to display, or a particular build number.

You will then be shown a list as shown below:

From this list you should select the required build by double-clicking on it.

New build...

From the Items page of the Navigator, click on the New Builds button:

On choosing this menu item you are shown the build entry window:

If you have restricted access to builds, you will not be able to see cost prices or the profit summary window at the bottom.

The build window has two parts:

The top part of the window records the details of the item to be built

The lower part lists ingredients that are used in the manufacture of the product.

click the Item to build or to edit icon

and in the next window enter the name of the product you're manufacturing (Syrup in our example)

and this window is displayed where you should complete the appropriate fields:

Adding ingredients manually

Note that ingredients can be added automatically from the Bill of materials tab. If you regularly build the same item, we recommend that you enter a Bill of Materials for the item being built, and use the method outlined under the Using a Bill of Materials heading below.

First, if you are entering a projected build (one that you expect to perform in the future), check the This is a projected build check box. If checked, all items added will be placeholder lines rather than actual stock. Doing this allows you to enter your manufacturing schedule in advance of ordering raw materials. The schedule will be taken into account when ordering to ensure that you will have enough materials in stock when the time comes to manufacture.

To add a new ingredient, click the New ingredient button. You will be shown the standard window for issuing goods from stock:

Enter ingredients just as you would for entering a customer invoice.

Once you have finished entering ingredient lines, click OK to return to the main window.

If you wish to edit a line, double-click it, and change the details.

To delete a line, double-click it, set it's quantity to zero, then click the OK button.

Adding the item to be built.

To add the item to build, click Item to build or edit button. You will be shown the Add/edit supplier invoice line window below for receiving goods.

The cost price for the item is automatically calculated for you. You may enter the margin or the selling price as you prefer.

Once you have entered the item to build, click OK to return to the main window.

If you wish to edit the item, simply double-click inside the “item to build” rectangle.

At the bottom right of the window in Summary section is a summary of the cost, margin and selling prices for the build.

Once you are satisfied with the details, click OK to enter the build into the system. You will be asked if you want to enter the details into stock. If you say yes , the newly created item will immediately be available for issuing to customers. If you click later then the stock will not be available until you open the build window at a later date and enter it into stock.

Note that the ingredients used in a build are considered to have been “sold” for re-ordering purposes, and will be counted in your usage.

Finishing build entry

Understanding build status codes enables you to know what stage each build is at. The codes are the same as for other transactions.

Each build transaction has a status code:

Code
Meaning

nw
A new build is being entered, but has not been saved.

sg
“Suggested”. A build has been entered, but has not yet been confirmed.
If stock lines have been entered, raw material stock is reduced so
that it is no longer available for other invoices, but the new item is not yet entered into stock.
You should leave builds with this status while manufactured items are “in process” ,
or if it is a projected build for a future date.

cn
“Confirmed.” The item to build has been entered into stock.

fn
“finalised.” The build can no longer be edited

When you click the OK button you may be asked if you want to enter the build into stock. You should only do so once the manufacturing and Quality Assurance (QA) process is complete. You will not be asked this question if there are any placeholder lines (those with a batch of “none”) entered as an ingredient. Such builds are presumed to be for projected manufacturing, and are kept with status sg automatically.

To finalize builds, choose File > Finalize builds when the splash screen is showing.

Converting projected builds into an actual build.

Once your manufacturing of a projected build is about to take place, choose Item > Show builds … to locate the build you want to edit.

For each line whose batch is equal to “none” (a placeholder line) you will have to double-click it and choose an actual stock line from the item issue window (either by entering the line number or double-clicking the line you wish to use). Once you have done this, the stock you have chosen will be reserved, and manufacturing can take place.

mSupply® calculates the number of items that will result from your build, and clicking on the Print labels icon prints the correct number of labels.

Using a Bill of Materials

A Bill of materials can be thought of as a “recipe” or “formula” for building an item. It records the ingredients, and the quantity of each required to make the finished product. You should create a bill of materials for an item before you come to this screen. This is done in an item's Item details window: see here for details. Screenshots in this section are using Simple Syrup as an example, and for this product a Bill of Materials has already been created.

When you click the “Bill of materials” tab in the build window, this window appears:

First you need to choose the item to be manufactured:

in the next window you need to specify the quantity to be manufactured and other details:

When you click OK, you are returned to the New Build window, and when you click the Add Bill of Materials Button, a window appears where you can confirm or cancel the quantity to be manufactured:

Assuming the quantity is correct, click OK, and you are returned to the New Build window, where the open tab is the Bill of materials tab. Click the Add Bill of Materials button, and the details on the Bill of Materials according to the formula previously entered for Simple Syrup is displayed:

Now click the Ingredients tab, where the ingredients are listed, but no stock is attached to any item - they are placeholder items (displayed in red). This is done as mSupply® cannot take into account all the factors that go into choosing an appropriate batch to use for each manufacturing run (The expiry, amount on hand, etc). click each line in turn to select the quantity and batch number of available stock lines for each ingredient. Note that there is a button displayed Re-distribute all. Clicking this button will take the “total quantity issued” figure and re-distribute it over the available batches, making it easy to move from using a placeholder line to issuing actual stock. The ingredient is repeated in black with appropriate details displayed. At this time (or later) you can also adjust the amount issued to reflect actual issued quantities and the actual batches of raw materials used, as opposed to the theoretical quantities that are initially entered.

If you are manufacturing the product immediately, the status of the build transaction should be changed to Confirmed on completion of the manufacturing process.

Print options:

It's possible to print either a Pick list, detailing the ingredients and quantities, or a summary of the manufactured product. To achieve this, check the print icon in the bottom right hand corner of the window and click the OK button. The printing options window will appear and you can choose which document to print:

Calculate Yields button: This button (on the Bill of materials tab) compares the actual quantities issued and the actual final quantity manufactured with the theoretical amounts that should have been used and made. This allows you to monitor production efficiency. Use the Print yield report button to print the yield information if required.

Previous: Locations and Location types Next: Merging items

Updated: Version 3.1

Item master lists

Items → Item master lists

Master lists are standard lists of items you would supply to wards, clinics, etc. on a regular basis. Once set up, a master lists can be assigned to customers or Virtual stores[27], and then used to support Stock Control[28] including imprest[29] orders. Master Lists are useful to stores which have a number of customers or virtual stores that they supply whose lists of stock items are either identical or very similar.

Clicking on Master\list from the mSupply navigator (or on the Show master lists icon in the Item section of the navigator) displays this window:

Adding (and importing) a master list

Click on the Add Master List icon and you are presented with a window allowing entry of the name of the list in the Description field (this is the list name that everyone will see), e.g. Health Posts - Standard List, and any note can be added in the Note field:

You then populate the list with the required items by clicking the Add Item icon:

On entering the first few characters of the item to be ordered and pressing the Tab key, the (by now!) familiar list will appear from which the desired item is selected by double clicking.

If the imprest system is used in your organisation, the quantity is entered in the Imprest Quantity field. If the imprest system is not being used, you don't have to enter anything in this field.

If you want this list to determine the price of this item for customers using it, the price is entered in the Price field. If not, no entry is required in this field.

In our example, a number of master lists have been created. A sample Health Posts - Standard List master list is shown below.

Sorting: Clicking on any of the column headings allows you to sort the list according to that heading; you also have the ability to click on an item in the list, and drag it to a new position; once the list is sorted to meet your requirements, you can click on the Save Sort Order icon, and mSupply® will retain the list in the order in which you have set it, and display it in that order next time it is accessed.

Copy to clipboard: The master list is copied to the clipboard when this button is clicked so that you can paste it into other applications on your computer e.g. a word processor or spreadsheet application.

Import Item List

You can import a list of items created elsewhere e.g. an accounting application or a spreadsheet. This can save you a lot of time! The file to be imported must be tab delimited text and must contain the item code, item name and imprest quantity (in that order) for each record. Records in the file are, of course, separated by the end of line character. For example:

code | item | imprest quantity
amo250t | amoxycillin 250mg tab | 800
amo500t | amoxycillin 500mg tab | 300

Note that:

The item code must match an existing item code,

The item name is for information purposes only and is not actually imported (you can leave a blank column in its place if you like)

The imprest quantity is also optional and can be left blank (you would leave it blank if the master list is not going to be used for an imprest)

Clicking on the Import item list button takes you to a prompt:

after which you can select the file:

And then the import preview dialogue box is displayed:

On this screen you use the Next and Previous buttons to move through the records and see what details will be imported for each. The First line contains column headers tells mSupply whether to ignore the first record in the import file (checked = ignore first line of file). The first record in the import file often contains headers describing the fields in each record, not actual data.

The Remove quote characters on import checkbox, if checked, tells mSupply® to strip all “ characters from the data. This is recommended. In fact, this option can be selected anyway without detriment to the import.

The imported items are added to the master list, nothing is overwritten by the import.

Clicking the Import now button executes the import with the settings you made and takes you back to the master list screen with the imported items now showing in your master list.

The Cancel button also takes you back to the master list screen but, obviously, does not execute the import.

Editing imprest quantities or price: If you click once on the row you wish to edit, and then click on the imprest quantity or price, it becomes editable. Enter the new value, and you can then use the <tab> key to advance to editing the next imprest quantity or price field.

The In use by tab: Under this tab you'll find the list of customers who have been assigned to this master group (i.e. are using this master list).

Deleting a master list

From the Item Master lists window, selecting the Delete Master List icon allows you to delete a list which is no longer required. This action has significant consequences for any customers who are users of the list. So to prevent accidental deletion, this action cannot be completed until any customers who are users of it have their association with it removed.

Duplicate a Master list

Should you wish to create a Master list which is very similar to an existing one, click on this icon, and a new Master list entitled ` Duplicate of ….. .' is created; this can then be edited and renamed to suit your requirements.

Assigning a list to a customer

To assign a list to a customer, the customer's details need to be on screen; Choose Customer > Show customers , or using the Navigator, select Show customers , fill in the appropriate details, and press Find, or just press Find, then double click the entry required on the Names list

Once the desired customer's Edit Customer/Supplier window appears click on the Item Lists tab.

Buttons in the Item Lists section:

Add Master list: From the list of master lists which have been created, double click on the name of the desired list.

Add Local list: This serves to cater, for example, for the situation where a patient with a rare disease requiring medicines not normally stocked, collects these medicines from the local Health Centre. In this example, a patient attending London Dispensary requires tetracosactide, and so a local list (London local) has been created with a single entry, Griseofulvin

Copy from Master list: This feature would normally be used where a specific customer's drug needs differ to a minor degree from the drugs listed in one of the Master lists, or under the Imprest system where the stock levels are different from those defined on a Master list; first click on the Add Master list icon, select the appropriate Master list, add it, and it will appear under List name. With that list highlighted, click on the Copy from Master icon, and a new entry appears displaying the name of the Master list followed by `(local)'. The Master list may then be deleted, and the local copy modified and renamed as appropriate.

Delete list: Two distinct functions are performed, depending on whether a Master list or a Local list is selected

if applied to a Master list of which the present customer is a member, it has the effect of removing that list from this customer's Favourites. The Master list remains in mSupply.

If applied to a Local list, it allows deletion of the list, but only after all the items have been removed from the list by making use of the Delete Lines feature.

Add item: Once you have selected a list, this allows you to add an item to that list.

You can only add items to a local list. If there are no buttons visible above the item list, it is because you don't have any local lists for this customer (or if you do, you haven't clicked on that local list to highlight it first)

When operating multiple stores in mSupply, you can sometimes have difficulty with item visibility: an item might be on a master list for a particular customer but if the item is not visible in the store you are logged into when using the list, then the item will not appear.

A temporary fix can be achieved by setting the item visibility in a particular store to match an item list - refer the Visibility tab[30]. This is only a temporary fix. If you add a new item to a master list, the visibility of that item in the stores using that list will not be updated.

To avoid this problem, you can set a preference (see here[31] for details) to have the visibility of items on lists altered to match the visibility of the name for which the lists are made.

Printing:

Before printing, choose either Sort by Group or Sort by department

Choose whether to send to Excel® or your printer.

Click Generate

Items

Note that these icons appear only when a local list is selected; for obvious reasons, Master lists cannot be edited here:

Add Item Self explanatory! Allows you to add required lines to the local list.

Delete lines Lines may be deleted, either singly or, by selecting multiple lines, several lines may be deleted together.

Save sort order . Allows you to save the list according to how you have sorted it.

Information button:

Edit favourite lists: The attributes of a list are set by double clicking on the name of the list shown under Favourite List(s). This window is displayed:

The options should be checked as appropriate:

Imprest: If checked, this list will populate an imprest customer stock history[32] created for the customer.

Customer stock history: If checked, this list will populate a customer stock history[33] created for the customer.

Ordering list for web: Means that the list represents all items that the customer can order using the mSupply Customer interface[34]. If a customer who uses the customer interface for ordering stock does not have a list with this option checked, they will not be able to order any items.

Price list: Means that the prices on this list will be used for these items when they are being distributed to this customer on a customer invoice. The price on this list will override any sell prices that individual stock lines have. Only one list can have this option checked for each customer.

Using Master Lists to control Item visibility in Stores

You can use master lists to control item visibility in each store, by checking the Items [35] preference box 'Automatically update item visibility in all stores to match master lists used by each store'. This will make the items visible in each individual store match exactly the items included in the master list(s) selected for that store.

Example

There are 100 satellite stores, and you want all of them to have the same item visibility:

1. Create a master list and add some items

2. Go to each store and make sure that the master list is selected

3. Turn on the preference[36] 'Automatically update item visibility in all stores to match master lists used by each store'

This preference can drastically affect item visibility.

Do not turn it on unless you know what you are doing! It affects ALL stores in the system.

Now whenever an item is added or removed from this master list, the preference will automatically update the visibility for all of the 100 stores, so that the items visible for each individual store matches the items included in the master list.

Adding an item to a master list will automatically add that item to visibility for all stores using that master list

Deleting an item from a master list will automatically remove that item from visibility for each store using that master list, given it is not included in another master list in use by each store respectively.

When deleting items from a master list, mSupply will first check all stores using the master list to make sure it is safe to remove that item. It is unsafe if the item has stock on hand and isn't included in another master list for any stores using master list you are editing.

To create a large master list, you can export all items to be added to mSupply, and then import them to the master list - see above.

Previous: Item categories Next: Item locations

Merging two items

Items → Merge two items

If an item has inadvertently been added twice, with slightly different descriptions, here is your safety line! Choose Merge two items… from the Item menu. Enter the item to keep and the item to be merged.

If you merge two items that are, in fact, different, you will really mess things up. There is no un-do for this operation, so you will be begging us to help you fix the mess, and we charge a special penal rate for people who do things after having been warned

Notes

Merging items affects all historical records except for item names on finalised transactions, which will retain the original name for safety reasons.

Items that either have a bill of materials or are used in a bill of materials cannot be used for the item to delete/merge. If you try to do so, you will be warned.

If the item you are merging/deleting has stocktake lines associated with it, these stocktake lines will be deleted, as you can't stocktake a non-existent item (except if you're Harry Potter).

Previous: Building (Manufacturing) Items Next: Ad hoc items

Non-stock items

Items → Non stock items

There are occasions when you need to order an item that you wish to add to your stock list, but which you currently do not wish to keep in stock. mSupply® treats such an item as a Non-stock item. Although you do not hold any stock of a non-stock item, it is quite likely that you may place regular orders for it.

Note that Ad hoc items are different in that:

they do not display in your list of items

it is likely that an ad hoc item will be ordered once and once only

The procedure for dealing with non-stock items is:

Step 1

From the Item menu, select New item, and enter the particulars as you normally do, only this time check the Non-stock item box. In the box immediately below, select the customer from the list of customers held in mSupply®.

To place an order for a non-stock item, a customer must be identified, and this customer becomes the default customer for the item.

Should you need to order the same item for a different customer at a later date, the new customer is entered at the time the Purchase Order is being created.

The example is for non-stock item Penicillamine 250mg tablets.

Step 2

Create the Purchase Order which will include the non-stock item. (from the navigator - Suppliers/+Purchase Order/+new line)

Step 3

On receiving the order, proceed as usual to the New Goods receipt form.

In our example, we have ordered 2 items from IDA, one of which is our non-stock item, Penicillamine 250mg tablets, and it appears in blue.

The Goods Received must be finalised in order to create the Supplier invoice:

Uncheck the Hold box ( bottom left corner) then click on OK, and this Alert message is displayed:

advising you that 'Customer invoices have been created for non stock items……': From the main menu, choosing Customer > Show invoices allows us to select and process the invoice which has been created automatically for the non stock item for our customer, the Dispensary.

Previous: Ad Hoc items Next: Managing drug interaction groups

Prices in mSupply

Items → Prices in mSupply The price you charge customers for your goods is, of course, very important. mSupply provides you with several different ways to set the selling price of your goods. Here they are:

Each supplier has a margin field that determines how much to add on to the cost price when buying from that supplier

Each item has a margin field that determines how much to add on to the cost price when buying that item

There is a preference ( File > Preferences > Invoices 1 ) which controls how these 2 margins relate:

If this preference is ticked then the item margin will be used instead of the supplier margin. If it is unchecked then the supplier margin will be used instead of the item margin.

You can set custom margins for each customer group ( File > Preferences > Invoices 2 )

You can fix the item price under the General tab in the Item details window.

Note that setting an item price here will set the price of new stock as you receive. It will not affect the price of existing stock- you can change existing prices if you have permission to do so by viewing an item and going to the “Stock” tab.

You can set item prices when setting up a data file by importing an item list. (see below)

Per customer pricing

Updated: version 3.12

Alternatively, individual prices can be set for each customer. This can be done in the Edit Customer/Supplier window which you can find by:

going to the Customer tab of the Navigator

click on the Show Customers button

find the customer you wish to customise prices for

double click the customer line

choose the Item Lists tab (see below)

To customise the pricing, add a list to the Favourite Lists column (either by clicking Add master list, Add local list or Copy from master list) or edit an existing list by double-clicking on it. Check the Price list checkbox from the window that comes up and any other checkboxes that you require.

You only need the Price list check box marked to customise prices

Only one list per customer can be price customised

Make sure the list is selected and then go to the Items section of the window. Enter the corresponding prices that you would like to assign to each item for that customer by clicking on the item and then clicking on the price (“0” by default). You can also add items to the list by clicking Add item and entering the item name and the price in the window that appears. The customer will now be charged the prices set in the list instead of any other price set.

Previous: Managing Item Access Next: Repacking items

Repacking Items

Items → Repacking items

Creating a New repack

The command Items > New repack will display a window where you can repack a particular item into smaller or larger packs and/or move all or part of a batch to another location. It is a more complex version of the split functionality and will allow you to handle several batches at a time.

There are 4 steps for creating a repack. The window is numbered from top to bottom to help you follow the correct steps:

Choose item to be repacked: At [1.] type the first characters or code of the item to be repacked, then press the Tab key. If only one item text or code matches your entry, it will be filled in automatically, otherwise you will be shown a standard choice list from where you can select the item.

Choose a batch: At [2.] double click a line to choose the batch; for repacking, batches cannot be mixed, and a single batch must be used.

Quantity to be repacked: At [3.] enter the quantity which is to be repacked; the pack size field is automatically completed.

Details of new line(s) - i.e. the repacks: At [4.] click the New line icon to bring up this window calling for the details of the repacks, and enter the details as appropriate.

Note that repacks of different sizes may be created at this stage - e.g. 5,000 Paracetamol tablets may be repacked into 40×50 and 30×100. The Sell price, the Batch number and the New Location are automatically completed, but all these fields may be edited as required.

Not infrequently, because some tablets may be broken, for example, the total quantity of the item re-packed will be less than the quantity selected for re-packing at [2.]. To maintain the accuracy of your stock record, an inventory stock adjustment should be performed - see the stock adjustments section here for this.

Printing a repack

While the status of the repacking transaction is suggested (sg), checking the box beside the print icon will produce a picking slip of the number and size of packs of the original item; once the status is finalised, the same operation will give you the choice to produce a detailed record of the re-packs or a stock movement report (for when you're moving stock - perfect for giving to the people physically moving the stock in the warehouse because it shows what is to be moved to which location).

On clicking the OK button, a transaction is created showing the original line taken out of stock, and the new line(s) put into stock. The total value of the transaction is always zero.

You cannot edit a repack transaction after you have clicked the OK button, so get it right the first time! (Tip: You can always “re-repack” an item to adjust a mistake however!)

Deleting a repack

If you click on the Delete button, then the repack will be deleted. Only repacks whose status is “sg” (suggested) or “nw” (new) can be deleted.

Viewing repacks

Repacked items can be viewed in the normal transaction list window - (Item > Show repacks) and select Repacks from the drop down list

Note that repacks created with versions of mSupply® prior to v1.4 will not show up using the “recent transactions” section of the window- you will have to enter the number directly.

Previous: Prices in mSupply Next: Show items with stock

Show items with stock

Items → Show items with stock

Updated: version 3.12

This can be accessed by choosing Show items with stock from the Item menu or by clicking on Show stock from the Item tab in the Navigator.

Either of these options will display the window as shown:

By default all stock is listed, and where the stock of an item is present in different batch numbers, each one is displayed.

You can choose the columns displayed by clicking on the Customise button to display this window:

Listed under Available are the columns not presently displayed, and under Chosen are the columns presently displayed. Changes are made by highlighting your chosen column on this window, and moving it using the buttons in the centre to add or remove it from the display.
You can order the list by a specific column of your choice by clicking on the column heading.

Filtering the list

Entering the item name or code in the box will filter the list; entering the first few characters of an item name will display only those items which begin with those letters (or numbers).

To display a specific item, either the item code or the full name should be entered.

To find all items containing ran enter @ran which will display all items which include the characters entered, not only those items where the characters entered are at the start of the item name - e.g. this will not only display any Ranitidine in stock, but will also display `Pyrantel', `Nitrofurantoin', Propranolol', etc..

Filtering by location

Alternatively you can filter by location. Leave the first search box blank and enter a location into the second search box. This will show only the items with that location.

Even more specific

To view an even more specific selection of stock you can filter by both item name and location. By entering your criteria into both boxes, only the stock which matches your specified name and location will appear.

Previous: Repacking Items Next: Splitting a batch

Splitting a stock line

Items → Splitting a stock line

The Split feature of mSupply provides us with the ability to break down stock into smaller pack sizes, consolidate it into larger pack sizes or move part or all of a stock line to a new location. Here's how to use it:

From the Item menu choose Show items to find the item to be split

Enter the start of the item name and click Find

Once the Item details window is displayed, choose Stock from the side bar list and you will see this window:

Click on the line you want to split, then click Split:

In the Quantity to split field enter the number of packs you want to move/split (if you're repacking the whole lot, then enter the total quantity - the number to the right of the word 'of'!)

In New location enter the new location for the packs that are being split (leave it alone if you're not changing the location)

In the New pack size field enter the The new pack size for the split items (leave this as it is if you're not changing the pack size!).

Click OK and you're done - the changes will be immediately visible in the item stock details window.

So, to summarise, you can use the split command to perform these actions:

Change the location of some or all of a stock line

Repack some of a stock line into a different pack size

Both of the above at the same time!

Produce a Movement report

mSupply provides a feature to produce a 'Movement report' for stock that you have moved to a different location using the split function. It's useful for printing off and giving to the person who is going to physically move the stock in the store.

Here's how to create one:

Once you have entered the details of your split/new stock location, click on the checkbox labelled Print Location Movement report and click OK:

The following report is displayed:

Note that the original and new locations are clearly identified so a printed version of this report can be easily referred to when physically carrying out the move in the warehouse.

Previous: Show items with stock Next: Stocktakes

js context[37]

Updated: Version 3.1

Stocktakes

Items → Stocktakes

General

Traditionally, during a physical stocktake, the store is closed, and no transactions may take place until the exercise is completed. The inconvenience caused by closure of the store varies from minor to significant. The benefit of using mSupply®'s stocktake module, while requiring that the store is closed while the physical stock check is in progress, is that the store may be opened immediately after the physical count is completed. Entry of the adjusted figures into mSupply® may be made at any convenient time over the next few days.

Having said that normal operation can occur immediately after the stocktake, it is important to note that:

mSupply will not allow stock that is on a Customer Invoice with status = “sg” to be taken out of stock by any other transaction process, including an inventory adjustment flowing from a stocktake - refer Creating inventory adjustments.

It is therefore highly recommended to process (take the stock off the shelves) and confirm any Customer Invoices with status = “sg” before doing a stocktake - refer Issuing Goods to a Customer (Customer Invoices), Confirming an invoice[38], and

Process the inventory adjustments from the stocktake as soon as possible after the physical count - refer Creating inventory adjustments

A stocktake makes a list of your stock, providing you with a 'snapshot' of your stock at a point in time. mSupply® enables you to automatically create custom printed lists of your stock items from which you and your staff can do the physical stocktake. The items included can be customised to focus on particular location(s), particular items, or your entire store.

The default list produced (i.e. the one where you don't change any settings) will:

be in alphabetical order

omit items whose stock level is zero

Lines on a stocktake may be edited provided the user's permissions are appropriately set. [File > Edit user > Permissions]

As of version 3.1 mSupply also has a web stocktake module, that allows entering stocktake results from a laptop or tablet on the warehouse floor.

Displaying stocktakes already performed

Select Show stocktakes.. from the Items menu to display any stocktakes already performed. This displays the following screen:

The Show: filter allows you to choose which previous stocktakes are displayed. Options are: All, Current, This year, Last year; Current is selected by default and displays all stocktakes with a status of Suggested (sg).

There is little point in keeping old stocktakes with status = “sg”, especially if you are about to create a new stocktake containing the same items. If time has passed since the stocktake was created, then the snapshot and actual quantities are almost certainly incorrect. For good housekeeping reasons, it is good to delete old “suggested” stocktakes (status = “sg”).

Creating a new stocktake

After viewing the current stocktakes, click on the New stock take icon, and the following window will appear:

Choose the items to be included

You can produce a stocktake for all items in your store by clicking OK without entering any criteria. If you want to narrow the items your are stocktaking, you can do this in a number of ways.

Search for items by Donor (e.g.items that have been donated by an organisation) NB. this filter needs to be set in Preferences:Invoice Preferences.[39]

Search for items by some criteria (item name, code, category).

Search by actual shelf location.

Search for items whose expiry is before a particular date. This allows you to easily remove all expired items from stock.

Select a number of items randomly chosen by mSupply.

The two drop-down lists allow you to customise the stocktake list you are producing, while the filter allows you to specify a particular location

To find stock at a particular location

Note that the “Shelf location” in the top left drop-down list is the default shelf location of the item, which is where the item is usually stored. To search by actual shelf location- where the stock has actually been stored- use the “Actual shelf location” panel.

In our example, only the location filter has been set to equals , and the entry in the box is MAN;

The stocktake list shown below, with items listed in alphabetical order is the result.

Such a list is, of course, dependent upon locations having been defined, and items allocated to specific locations

At this point the status of the stocktake is sg , i.e. suggested.

Print sheets to do the stocktake

Before printing you need to ensure that the order in which items are displayed is appropriate. By default the list is alphabetical, but for stocktaking purposes, it may be more appropriate to sort the list by location and then by item name; this is achieved by clicking on the Order by button and choosing Sort by location then item name

If you want another sort order, click a column heading for a simple sort, or choose the Custom sort option from the Order by button.

You can filter a stock list by entering the item name - or the first few characters of the name - or the item code in the box Item name/code in the top right area of the window, then clicking the Find button

Clicking on the Print icon displays the available options:

Inventory adjustments: prints information about all the inventory adjustments made when the stocktake has been finalised (see finalise section below).

Inventory adjustments-all items: prints information about inventory adjustments made after finalisation but includes all items, not just those which have had their quantities adjusted.

Stock take lines: prints all lines in the stocktake and includes the quantities mSupply has recorded for each item.

Stock take lines without quantity: prints all lines in the stocktake and excludes the quantities mSupply has recorded for each item.

Stock variance report: prints out a report showing the differences between the stock recorded in mSupply and that counted during the stocktake. Only lines which show a difference are included in the report.

Usually it is better to print out stock take sheets without the quantities. This ensures that the quantity of stock on the shelves must actually be counted and not just guessed!

[There is a further option - you may provide the staff performing the stocktake with blank sheets, requiring them to list both the items and the stock figure manually.]

Perform the stocktake

Allocate staff to perform the stocktake, instruct them in the process you wish to follow, and issue the sheets to them.

Enter quantities into the system

Once the physical stocktake has been completed, you are ready to make entries to record any differences in stock levels into the system. Remember that any item which mSupply® calculates as having zero stock will not appear on the stocktake sheet.

Filtering the list by item name or code

To facilitate making any adjustments, you can rapidly find an item by entering the first few characters of its name, or its code in this field, and clicking the Find button. The list will be reduced to show only the matching items. To return to the full list, clear the find field and click the Find button again

Making Adjustments

If there is a discrepancy between the amount mSupply says you have in stock (the figure which appears in the Snapshot quantity column) and the physical amount counted or between the batch, expiry date or location of the stock and what is shown in mSupply, you need to make an adjustment as follows:

Double click on the row you wish to edit, and the Edit stock take line window appears, with the figure in the Stock take quantity field highlighted.

Enter the figure from the completed stock sheet in the Stock take qty field (just type the new figure, and the currently highlighted figure will be replaced).

change the batch, expiry date or location fields also if needed.

If you only need to change the quantity for a particular stocktake line then click the line to select it then click on the value in the Enter quantity column and type the correct value directly into the stocktake sheet (don't do it too quickly or mSupply will think you're double clicking the line and the Edit stock take line window will appear!).

Adding items not in the stocktake list

In the event of an item being physically present, but absent from the computer generated list, then it needs to be added to the stocktake in mSupply®. Proceed as follows:

Click the New line button, and the Add stock take line window appears with the options of using existing batch lines, or a new unrecorded batch line, and the appropriate radio button should be checked:

Enter the item name or code (enter part of the name or code and press tab to search), and if mSupply®'s records have details of the supply of this item, a window appears listing the entries, from which you can highlight the one with a matching batch number, and click the Use details button

In the example, propranolol 40mg tablets have been found with batch no. PK2077, so this line is highlighted, the Use details button clicked, and appropriate entries made in the window which appears:

Note also that from the colour drop down list a different colour (blue) has been selected, and this entry will now appear in that colour on the stock take sheet, making it easily identifiable.

When the Use details button is clicked, you will be returned to the General tab where the details have been completed, and only the quantity needs to be entered under the General tab

You are returned to the Stocktake sheet window, where the new line entered will now appear in the colour selected, if any; note that the entry in the Snapshot column is zero.

All details of a new line added may be edited, but only the quantity or the location of existing lines on the sheet may be edited; this is performed by double clicking on the row you wish to edit.

The Delete item button will only work to delete lines which you have added yourself (i.e. lines with a snapshot quantity of zero).

Create inventory adjustments

When all necessary adjustments have been entered, you are ready to create the inventory adjustments; this is easily performed by:

clicking on the Create inventory adjustments button

confirming your intention in the window which appears

Finalising is not reversible, so you have to be quite certain you're ready to proceed.

Once inventory adjustments have been created, the status of the stocktake changes from suggested, sg , to finalised, fn .

You will now observe a change in the buttons appearing on the Stocktake sheet;

in the upper area only the Print button is present

while at the bottom two new buttons are present - Show added adjustments and Show reduced adjustments

click on either button to display the related inventory adjustment transaction.

Print the report

Clicking on the Print button and highlighting Inventory adjustments will print this information; you may select the format to be printed from several options:

In this example, three adjustments have been made:

Magnesium carbonate: present at the physical check but not on the sheet, has been added

Peppermint oil has had its stock increased

Sodium bicarbonate has been reduced in stock

Items that weren't changed don't show in the report.

Some points to note:

When you have created the stocktake sheet, it's like `taking a snapshot'; the physical stock at that location should not be removed until the stocktake has been performed; nor should stock be added.

New transactions can however, be entered into the system.

the Log tab on the Stocktake sheet will list any anomalies. An anomaly may occur if a transaction has been entered after the stocktake that issued more stock than you physically counted. Obviously someone has made a mistake in such a situation.

There is on the stocktake window (lower left corner) a checkbox Locked , which, if checked, will allow neither deletion of the stocktake nor any changes to be made to it.

Ok and Next - if you have no more stocktakes to add, click the 'OK' button, to add only the stocktake just completed. To add a further stocktake, click the 'OK & Next' button and proceed to add your next stocktake.

Previous: Splitting a batch Next: Inventory adjustments

items_ad_hoc_items.html

[1] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=purchasing:ordering_from_suppliers

items_adding_a_new_item.html

[2] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:atc_reports

items_department_management.html

[3] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=admin:tables_fields:foreign_keys

items_forecasting.html

[4] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:transferring_goods_to_another_store
[5] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=tender_management:introduction
[6] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=purchasing:ordering_from_suppliers
[7] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=tender_management:introduction
[8] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=purchasing:ordering_from_suppliers

items_inventory_adjustments.html

[9] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:issuing_goods_customer_invoice

items_item_basics.html

[10] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:custom_reports
[11] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=admin:tables_fields:foreign_keys
[12] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=tutorial:working_with_lists
[13] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=other_stuff:misc_topics
[14] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=preferences:general
[15] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:misc_built-in_reports
[16] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=other_stuff:virtual_stores
[17] http://tinyurl.com/n2mge23
[18] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=tender_management:reference_documents
[19] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=purchasing:ordering_from_suppliers
[20] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=dispensing:abbreviations
[21] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:atc_reports
[22] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:items_and_stock
[23] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=admin:tables_fields:foreign_keys
[24] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=tutorial:working_with_lists

items_item_categories.html

[25] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=reports:items_and_stock

items_item_units_and_item_accounts.html

[26] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=names:adding_and_editing

items_master_lists.html

[27] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=other_stuff:virtual_stores
[28] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:stock_control_methods
[29] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=faq:imprest_work_flow
[30] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=other_stuff:virtual_stores
[31] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=preferences:general
[32] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:stock_control_methods
[33] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:stock_control_methods
[34] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=web_interface:msupply_customer
[35] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=preferences:general
[36] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=preferences:general

items_start.html

[37] https://www.google.com/search?q=&btnI=lucky#1

items_stocktakes.html

[38] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=issuing_goods:issuing_goods_customer_invoice
[39] https://docs.msupply.org.nz/doku.php?id=preferences:invoices