Thank you for choosing mSupply.

Before you launch in (if you haven't already!), we suggest you plan to take the following steps.

• Read the rest of this introduction.
• Read the setup, tutorial and license chapters in this manual.

Please note that installation requires basic computer skills:

• You need to be able to locate a file using the “open” and “save” windows.
• If you are not sure, why not try, and email us if you get stuck.

mSupply is designed to handle the following tasks:

• Recording quotations received from various suppliers in a way that makes for easy comparison of true cost prices.
• Create tenders for suppliers to respond to.
• Ordering (Purchasing) of items from a particular supplier, using actual usage figures to calculate the required quantities.
• Entering of incoming goods into inventory.
• Manufacturing items. That is, building new items from raw materials in your stock.
• Tracking Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
• Issuing of invoices for customers, and recording the transaction against inventory.
• Customers are able to order on-line via the internet, and can view stock status and the status of their orders.
• Exporting purchase and invoice data for import into an accounting program.
• Reporting on transactions and other data in almost any manner you want!
• If you need help with installing mSupply please feel free to email us at info@msupply.org.nz

The latest and most authoritative version of this User Guide is located on-line at http://docs.msupply.org.nz/. You can export the chapter you're viewing in PDF format by clicking the export:pdf tab to the right. It may then be viewed off-line within Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewer. To obtain the whole user guide in PDF format, visit mSupply site

If you are reading a PDF version, it is likely that a more up-to-date version is available on-line.

As mSupply is compatible with both Windows OS and Apple Mac OS, there is a mix of screenshots in the manual taken from each operating system.

Sustainable Solutions was established in 2001 with the primary aim of supplying and supporting mSupply software in developing countries. We are committed to producing software that enables excellence in health care delivery. We take pride in looking after people who choose to use our services.

We are based in Kathmandu, Nepal

We can be contacted at:

• email:info@msuppy.org.nz
• or info@sussol.net
• phone: +977 1 5548021,
• fax: +1 (815)572-9431
• post:
  • PO Box 8975, EPC 355,
  • Kathmandu,
  • Nepal

Please feel free to request more information.

Juliet has always been encouraging and more, and has put up with me thinking about mSupply when I shouldn't have been.

This software grew out of necessity at the Medical Supply Department, Kathmandu, Nepal. We learnt a lot from Jaap Zijp's software “Bhandari”, and from the staff at MSD where mSupply was originally developed and tested.

Ujwal Khatry has stuck with Sustainable Solutions for ten years, including the startup period where our company name could well have been a misnomer.

Jim Staples of 4D inc. http://www.4D.com kindly arranged an initial donation of the superb development environment we use.

Thanks to those people in the 4D tech mailing list who have helped for no benefit to themselves.

John Ross, Pharmacist of Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, believed in the quality of mSupply enough to use it long before it was fully ready.

David Adams kindly donated his superb texts on 4D.

The moderators of the E-Drug mailing list have been gracious in letting us use that list for occasional announcements.

mSupply software is copyright Sustainable Solutions, 2006, UMN/INF/Interserve 1996 to 1999. You may only use the software in accordance with the accompanying licence agreement.

Commercial users or any user wanting multi-user functionality enabled must obtain a licence from Sustainable Solutions.

Please view our web site http://www.msupply.org.nz for up-to-date pricing.

A free version of mSupply is available for Non-commercial use

• You may use mSupply software in single user mode for free as long as it is used:
  • in an approved not-for-profit organisation
  • in a developing country.
• Sustainable Solutions shall be the sole arbiter of those qualifying for free use.
• All users (free and paid) must register with Sustainable Solutions to obtain a registration code. Information supplied will not be used for any purpose other than generation of registration code.
• Users who have obtained a free licence number are not eligible for free support.

Please contact us for quotes regarding customised versions and installation and training packages.

The mSupply version history is available here

If you aren't familiar with using a computer, you should read this chapter, and also work through the tutorial.

Menus: Choose New item… from the Item menu (sometime also written as Choose Items > New item… means … Click on the word Item in the menu bar, then choose New item… from the menu that drops down.

Keyboard keys: A handful of keys on the keyboard are used extensively and are indicated in italics font. The most common are: Tab, Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Enter and Backspace.

Field: An area where you can make an entry, either text or numbers - usually a white coloured box. In many places a user can hover over an input field for a description of what is required.

Typed data: Anything that must be typed into a field is shown in monospace font. For example: Type 100 and press Enter.

Check box: is a box that changes from having an “X” in it to being blank each time you click in it. To “check” a check box means to click it so that an “X” appears (if there is not one already present). Check boxes have text beside them explaining what the box is for.

Tab & Shift: You can generally move the “focus” (the active area) from field to field in a window by using the Tab key. Holding down the Shift key while pressing the Tab key will move the focus from field to field in the reverse order to normal. Note that on Windows, some buttons are “tabable”- that is, pressing the Tab key moves the “focus” to a button. Pressing the Return or Enter key then activates that button.

Highlight button: Pressing the Enter key will operate the highlighted button in a window, which is usually the OK button.

Double-click: In lists (e.g. of Names or of Items), double click the left mouse button on a line to edit or view more details.

Insertion point: is the blinking line in a field that indicates which field is currently accepting typed input.

OK button: The OK button can be operated by pressing the Enter key.

Cancel button: The cancel button can be operated by holding down Ctrl key (cmd on Macs), and pressing the period key (full stop).

Path to a file (or document): is a way of describing where a document is stored on your hard disk. It is written as “hard disk:folder 1: folder 2:document”, which is the same as “C:\folder 1\folder 2\document”.

Modifier keys: Windows and Macs have different modifier keys. We've tried to list both in the manual, but sometimes one might slip through, so

• The Windows Ctrl key does the same as the cmd (command) key on Macs
• The Windows Alt key does the same as the opt (option) key on Macs.

Column headings: Column headings can be clicked to sort the list by that column.

Stock: Also called “inventory”- an entry in mSupply that represents physical stock (inventory) in your store.

Item: An “ item ” in mSupply is a particular product. An item may or may not have stock lines at any given time. For example: In the example data file provided with mSupply, “Amoxycillin 250mg tab/cap” is an item. When you first start to use the example data file it has 2 stock lines. (You can view them under the “stock” tab of the Item details window (more on that later!).

Item lines (or “stock lines”) represent different batches of the same item in your store.

Negative values: In general, there is no need to enter negative values in mSupply. Even when you are entering returned goods from customers, or returned goods to suppliers, you must enter positive values. mSupply automatically converts the invoice total to a negative amount when it is a credit to a supplier or from a customer.

Supplier invoice: A supplier invoice is the same as a “bill” or a “purchase”

Build: A transaction that records the manufacturing of an item by turning raw materials into a finished product - refer Building (Manufacturing) Items.

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