OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

A. NEED AND PLANNING ................................................................................................................ 2

1. Need definition and planning ........................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Order content ....................................................................................................................... 3

a. Item specification ................................................................................................................. 3

b. Codes .................................................................................................................................. 4

i. MSF Standard codes (ITC Codes) .................................................................................. 4

ii. Non Standard codes ........................................................................................................ 5

iii. Local codes ...................................................................................................................... 5

iv. Non-coded items.............................................................................................................. 6

c. Catalogues ........................................................................................................................... 6

d. Standard lists ....................................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Order quantity ...................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Order planning ..................................................................................................................... 7

a. Order chronogram ............................................................................................................... 8

b. Communication about average lead times by product category/ source ............................ 8

4.1 Authorized requester list ...................................................................................................... 9

2. Ordering process ........................................................................................................................ 10

2.1 Request Management ....................................................................................................... 11

a. Consolidation of activities .................................................................................................. 11

b. Categorization of request .................................................................................................. 12

c. Definition of standard delivery lead times .......................................................................... 13

2.2 Internal Request (IR) ......................................................................................................... 14

a. Creation of an Internal Request ......................................................................................... 14

b. Validation of an Internal request ........................................................................................ 15

c. Screening of Orders........................................................................................................... 15

d. Sourcing of Internal Requests ........................................................................................... 15

2.3 Requesting Documents ..................................................................................................... 16

a. Creation of a Requesting Document at project level ......................................................... 16

b. Screening of the Requesting Document ............................................................................ 16

c. Sourcing of orders ............................................................................................................. 17

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

2.4 Special orders .................................................................................................................... 17

2.5 Order Follow Up................................................................................................................. 18

a. Communication with the Project ........................................................................................ 19

3. Validation of the Engagement of Expenditure for purchase of goods or supply services .......... 19

1.1 Responsibilities in the validation of the engagement of expenditure ................................ 20

a. Authorised requester ......................................................................................................... 20

b. Supply ................................................................................................................................ 20

c. Technical validation by Technical Referent ....................................................................... 20

d. Financial validation by Finance ......................................................................................... 21

e. Operational validation by Operations ................................................................................ 21

f. Specimen signatory list ...................................................................................................... 21

2.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure for local purchase ...................................... 21

a. Internal Request for purchase of small amount ................................................................. 21

b. Document with price confirmed by the supplier ................................................................. 22

c. New validation following price increase ............................................................................. 22

3.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure for international purchase .......................... 22

a. Validation of international orders through MSF Logistique web portal .............................. 22

b. New validation following price increase ............................................................................. 22

4.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure of local purchase of supply services .......... 23

a. Validation of transport services ......................................................................................... 23

b. Validation of clearing services ........................................................................................... 23

A. NEED AND PLANNING

The Needs are the starting point of the supply chain and also its most essential component.

There are crucial activities to put in place before placing an order or signing a contract, such as needs
identification, planning, sourcing and validation of the engagement of expenditure. If these activities
are not well implemented and documented, it will affect the entire chain.

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

1. Need definition and planning

Proper planning of when to place orders is crucial to prevent stock from running out or to have over
stock, sleeping stock and expired or, in the case of non-storable items, to have the items in place for
when we need them.

Non-storable items are usually ordered in response to needs identified at planned meetings or to
needs that arise unexpectedly. They can also be products that will be used very quickly after the
delivery. As they don’t need to be kept in stock, there are usually not tracked by the Supply through
any stock tool. (E.g. expat food etc...). However assets (E.g. generators, laptop…) are managed by
the Logistics through a specific asset management tool called Marmotta.

Storable items are kept physically in a store and tracked by stock tools. The stock they form is
replenished following a defined schedule. The replenishment of stocks is described in detail in the
Stock Management module.

1.1 Order content

When creating an order, care has to be taken to ensure the correct specification of items and
quantities. Outlined in this section are the main considerations and tools that should be used when
determining the content of an order.

a. Item specification

When ordering either medical or non-medical items it is essential that the appropriate items are
received, in terms of what the original requester needed and in relation to what items should be used
in MSF programs.

Detailed & formalised specifications are paramount to ensure the supplier understands what we need
and supplies the product we are expecting.

Specifications can be either a brief description of an item or be a very detailed list of technical
requirements including pictures, but in both cases following rules apply:

A specification should:

- Be clear and unambiguous.

- Contain enough information so that the supplying party will understand what is required.
- Contain the essential features and characteristics of what is required (including Unit of measure)
and that can ease the sourcing of the items without discriminating against or favour a supplier.
- Be supported by documentation if need be (technical specification, pictures…).
- Comply with OCG and mission Technical Policies.
- Fit to the purpose without overestimating or underestimating the requirements
- Mention a specific brand or proprietary product only if this is necessary (Adding “or equivalent”
demonstrates it does not have to be that specific brand/product) and if it is a strict standard (refer
in point Catalogue to closed article).

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

Specifications that are not clear or incorrect will lead to goods being procured that don’t match the
purpose. On the other hand, too complex or precise specifications when not necessary can limit the
number of potential sources that could be used to fulfil the need.

To reduce the chance of inappropriate items being sent to the field a series of tools have been
developed to assist both the requester and the supply team when specifying needs.

- Standard codes
- MSF catalogues
- Standard Lists
These tools serve a valuable function in an organization such as MSF which is characterized by a high
turnover of personnel at a field level many of whom come with their own experiences and ideas of
what items might be necessary in particular programs.

Control of what items are ordered ensures that as far as possible the ordering of items is rational and
based on program needs as opposed to individual preferences. Furthermore this item control helps to
keep the ordering and stock keeping process simpler.

b. Codes

Descriptions of technical items, medical or non-medical, are often long and complex for unfamiliar
staff. The allocation of a unique code and description to a specific item facilitates both the identification
of the item and its communication between different parties.

In summary, coding of standard items assists the work of the supply team in the following ways:

- Facilitates the specification of ordered items to suppliers and between MSF staff at different levels.
This reduces the time spent clarifying exactly what item has been requested.
- Allow to have a common language at coordination, projects, HQ and ESC level for need
standardization. It will reduce the chance that a wrong item will be supplied. For items being
supplied from either the Mission Coordination or HQ, the sending of wrong items to a project
becomes a financially significant mistake, since any return of goods involves both transport and
time costs and for medical items may not always be possible.
The identification of items through codes is not only to facilitate the order process but also the
gathering of data to produce statistics and reports on the other supply activities (purchase, stock
management, shipments …)

For the majority of items supplied in MSF program there will be a specific code for an item.

i. MSF Standard codes (ITC Codes)

A Standard Medical items is an article that has been validated by the medical directors of the five
sections that can be sourced from at least one European Supply Center. A Standard Logistic Article is
an article that is in the Logistic Catalog, which doesn’t necessarily mean that this article was validated
by all Logistic Directors of the five sections. Usually it seems that a standard Logistic article is one that
has been proposed and accepted to use by the working group responsible for that article type.

These are created by the “International Technical Coordination”, the MSF international body
responsible for defining standard items for the organization as a whole. These codes are centralized in

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

UniData, the MSF’s central supply article database that details all items available for the field. It is the
source for UniField and all other downstream MSF order tools. It holds all standard articles, as well as
the non‐standard created in the European Supply Centers.

UniData embodies the harmonized article codification rules that are adopted by all of MSF. These
rules bring uniformity, quality and continuity of information for all articles and specifications.

By providing a single, unique code for each article, UniData ensures that all of MSF shares a common
“language” when speaking about articles.

ITC codes have the following structure:

Group Family Root Specifications

D I N J A M P I 1 V -
Drugs Injection Ampicillin 1g vial

Some families have peculiarities pertaining to the unit and packaging which are described in the
Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedure under Code peculiarities.

UniField is automatically updated via synchronisation on a daily basis with the new codes created in
UniData.

ii. Non Standard codes

. A Non Standard Medical items is one that has been validated by one or more, but not all five medical
directors, and that can be sourced from at least one European Supply Center. A Non Standard
Logistic Article is an article which use in the field has been validated by a logistics back office (it could
be the Logistic Director as well though depending on the section), and that can be sourced from on
European Supply Center at least.

. A non-standard code can be created for the following reasons:

- Only for a defined mission (e.g. for a specific non-standard equipment installed in a mission and
for which spare parts are provided by the Supply Centre)
- For items procured only by a specific Section (IT and telecommunication equipment…)

iii. Local codes

These codes are created by the Missions’ themselves for internal use only.

Local codes are created when an article is not available in the UniData but is used in a project or
Mission. Creation of local codes is only possible by one focal person at the Mission Coordination level,
to avoid duplication of item, meaning that projects have to request the creation of new codes when
needed. The creation of local code has to be validated by the Supply in charge at coordination level.
This centralization ensures some discipline in the creation of codes and that all the locations in a
Mission are harmonized with regards to codes. This implies as well that the coordination regularly
shares the list of codes with the whole of the projects.

Local Codes have the following structure:

Group Family Local Code Country of creation Sequential nr

A D A P Z U G # # # #

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

Admin Data Processing Uganda

Refer to the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures for a detailed explanation about
the creation of local codes.

iv. Non-coded items

If no standard, non-standard or local code exists to describe a requested article, the order will be sent
only with a description of the article (nomenclature). This description should be as precise and
unambiguous as possible.
(E.g. for spare parts, refer to the technical manual available with the original equipment).
This method is to be avoided and can only be used exceptionally for a “one shot” request for an item.
Indeed a non-coded item does not allow proper item tracking, financial follow-up, and stock follow-up
nor statistical analysis.
Items ordered in this way to a Supply Centre will be assigned a code at order confirmation.

c. Catalogues

Catalogues state which goods can be purchased (locally and internationally)

- ITC Catalogues: As well as releasing a revised list of codes each year, the ITC also publishes the
MSF catalogues which feature the standard items used in MSF programs. The catalogues present
clear technical specifications, comments on appropriate use and where applicable advice on local
purchase for each item. As such the catalogues provide a useful reference when ordering.
- MSF Logistique and HQ Catalogue: This catalogue lists all the items that can be purchased from
MSF Logistique or Headquarter. It is only available in electronic format on the MSF Logistique web
portal.
- Online library: A lot of MSF document (including ITC catalogue) are available online, to be
download and printed locally.
- It is also recommended to create specific catalogues at mission level that will be useful to provide
the projects with information on what articles are available locally and thus as well facilitate the
ordering process (refer to the Procurement module for more details).
The items referred to in these catalogues can be of two types;

- Open articles: which are the majority of the referenced articles. They refer to a generic product
which has been assigned a set of technical specifications allowing fulfilling a given function. This
means that any product that meets the technical specifications of this article can be selected to
supply this article, whatever the brand may be.
E.g.: CSHEBLANW4-, BLANKET, WOOL, 40% minimum, 1.5 x 2m, dark colour
- Closed articles: they refer to a specific product. In this case the article is from a particular model or
brand and only this brand may be supplied.
E.g.: EEMDCONE4--, CONCENTRATOR O2 (De Vilbiss 525KS+OSD) 220V + access.
This article refers only to the 525KS model manufactured by De Vilbiss.

d. Standard lists

These lists state which goods can be ordered by a mission country. Refer to the Supply Chain
Administration and Standard Procedures for a detailed view of the document and it elaboration.

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

The creation and maintenance of restricted lists of items that are in use in a mission facilitate the
ordering processes and the control of the assortment of items that end up in the projects. The starting
point for anyone wanting to request an item is to go through the standard list of coded items for the
project or Mission. The requested item should be present otherwise it is likely that the item is not
standard and needs further discussion and validation before it can be requested.

Items that are not present on the standard list will have to be justified by the project team, and
approved before they can be ordered.

Having a coherent standard list will have a real added value on:

- Mission needs standardization trough a common language between Coordination and Project.

- The needs definition and the understanding of the items by the Supply team.

- The ordering process and especially the encoding.

- The sourcing of the items. The standard list can be used as a tool for market study and
identified supplier.

- The lead time. Having identified the source of each item contained in the standard list, the
Supply in charge won’t need additional time to do look for potential supplier, which should
reduce the lead time.

- Stock strategy to analyze the forecasting, the management and the distribution of the listed
items

These lists also aim to consolidate the discussion about the needs of the projects within the mission
and with the headquarters.

The standard list will have to be updated when necessary to make sure it is still compliant with the
objectives of the projects, with the protocols in use, with the evolution of the general MSF Standard
order lists and the national List of Essential Medicines, with the country regulations, etc.

The Medical Coordinator is responsible for developing and maintaining the mission’s medical standard
list which is validated by the Headquarters. The mission’s medical standard lists are particularly
important in that they compile all medical items (drugs, consumables, medical equipment and related
spare parts etc.) needed in the mission (Medical Standard List).

The Supply can initiate the creation of the Mission’s Logistics standard list based on an analysis of the
past purchases. Unlike the Medical Standard List, the Logistics Coordinator is the final responsible for
validating and maintaining the Mission’s Logistics standard Lists.

2.1 Order quantity

Orders are made to create or replenish stocks, or to meet an identified need for a specific non-
storable item. The way in which the order quantity is determined differs depending on the type of
order.

For non-storable items the quantity to be ordered is specified by the requester, according to the
identified need. The determination of appropriate order quantity in the case of creation or
replenishment of stocks is more complicated and requires consideration of various parameters as
described in the Stock Management Module.

3.1 Order planning

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

Proper planning of when to make orders is essential to prevent stock from running out or, in the case
of non-storable items, to have the items in place for when we need them. This is most critical when
projects are ordering items that have a long lead-time for instance those items that are supplied by a
Supply Centre.

a. Order chronogram

The order chronogram is a tool used to enable a better order planning, forecasting and consolidating
which will help to anticipate and smooth the workload for the supply team. It sets intervals at which
orders for storable items have to be placed for quantities large enough to cover estimated needs until
the next order should have been received and to replenish the safety stock (buffer) if it has been
depleted. Refer to the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures for a detailed view of the
document and how to fill it in.

A chronogram has to be defined for local and international orders together with the Supply and the
Technical Referents (Medical/ Logistic Coordinators and Medical/ Logistic Team Leaders). Parameters
to take into account to define the order chronograms are:

- The mission stock strategy

- The steps of order preparation (physical stock count, order preparation and its different
validations…)
- The steps of importation (pre inspection, pre clearing, clearing, sampling…)
- The transportation time
Order chronograms are reviewed every year before the Plan of Action and in case of important
operational change (project opening/ closing…). They are validated by the Medical and Logistic
coordinators.

Orders of items that are going to be delivered straight to the consumption units (e.g.: building materials
for the rehabilitation of a hospital) are not parts of any regular order chronograms. However for big
construction projects, a specific order chronogram can be set up.

It is important that beginning of each month the Supply in charge contacts the requesters to ensure
that for the coming months the orders will be placed on time according to the order chronogram, but
also to identify the planned orders of such non-storable items. The Supply has a proactive role after
analysis to initiate discussions with the requesters to tackle the issues of unplanned orders and to
support them.

An order chronogram can be set between activities and a projects stock, between project and
coordination and between coordination and its international and / or regional supplier.

b. ASAP and emergency request

There will still be emergency requests outside of the standard supply regime, some of which may be
legitimate and some of which may be due to poor or no planning. If a risk of shortage before the next
monthly order reception is identified there is always a possibility to request for extra orders between 2
regular orders.

This kind of orders will have a huge impact on the supply team as it involve quick response, change of
planning,…

In order to anticipate this kind of situation standard procedure must be define :

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

• Who is validating the special status of those orders

• What is the lead time for those orders

• What can be the maximum this of those orders (e.g. Only a few items should be ordered
(target: max 10, less than 250 kg) if need to be sent within 24 hours)

• Etc.

Those orders are made to answer to emergency situation, unplanned rupture or unplanned activity.

Whilst the supply office ultimately feels the effect of poor request discipline it is the responsibility of the
project team as a whole to actively promote good practice.

c. Communication about average lead times by product category/ source

As far as possible, the department that requires an item(s) is responsible for timing the request of that
item such that it can be supplied according to average lead-times.

These average lead-times by product category and sourcing need to be communicated to all
authorized requesters in order to avoid unrealistic delivery dates.

To streamline the flow of orders, moments should be determined when requested items are purchased
locally (e.g. every Thursday), when orders are sent to the Mission Coordination (e.g.1st week of each
month), etc. These order moments should be clear to all authorized requesters to enforce discipline.
Exceptions should only be made if there is a genuine emergency.

The definition of emergency orders is always subjective and if the requester and the supply office
cannot come to agreement on the status of a particular order/request, the Technical Referent (of the
project, mission or cell) will arbitrate to ensure the request is prioritized as necessary. The decision on
whether or not the request is to be qualified as an emergency shall be based on the requested
delivery date and/ or the risk of operational rupture. In such cases, the delivery date shall become the
main criterion for the order processing. This decision must be formally approved.

Emergency examinations of requests must remain the exception rather than the rule.

4.1 Authorized requester list

Whilst all MSF staff can identify a need, only certain persons are authorised to formally request for this
need to be met. This formalisation is done through an Internal Request. Refer to the Supply Chain
Administration and Standard Procedures for a detailed view of the document and how to elaborate it.

The rationale is to find a compromise between the operational needs and the financial constraints.
Having too many requesters is not manageable from an order processing point of view (production of
many documents), but conversely concentrating the production of all internal requesters in the hand of
a very few number of authorized requesters will not be manageable for them (validation of many IR).

An authorized requester is an OCG staff to whom the authority is given by the budget holder to
validate operational need through an internal request for a defined consumption unit.

The budget holders are the Field Coordinator (for the project), Head of Mission (for the mission),
Program manager (for the cell portfolio), and Director of Operations (for the operational budget).

The budget holder is responsible for managing a project or a mission and delivering approved
expected results within the last approved budget (Plan of Action or revision).

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

The authorized requester list is elaborated together with the Supply in charge, the Technical
Referents (Medical/ Logistic Coordinator at coordination level, Medical/ Logistic Team Leader at field
level), the Admin at field level or Finance Coordinator at coordination level, and must be approved by
the Field Coordinator at field level or Head of Mission at coordination level.

A consumption unit is the location where the goods will be consumed or used. There are operational
consumption units such as Clinics, Health centers…and support consumption units such as Office,
Houses….. Keep in mind that if the authorized requester doesn't have the technical competence to
validate a need (E.g.: Medical Team Leader validates the purchase of a generator for the hospital),
you should refer to the Technical Referent to get advice on technical specification.

There should be only one authorized requester by consumption unit, regardless of the type of request
(Med or Log). In any case the authorized requestor doesn't have the technical competence ta validate
a specific item (E.g.: a nurse is the authorized requester for the clinic and has to validate the purchase
of a generator), he/ she has to refer to the technical referent to get advice on technical specification
prior to submitting the internal request.

The idea is to streamline the number of requesters, and channel requests through supervisors of
consumption units as far as are practical. The authorised requestor is responsible for reviewing the
needs identified by the staff and on the basis of this review, for issuing a request that contains the
appropriate items, fitting the program’s needs, in appropriate quantities and a realistic delivery date.

Regular cross checks with the Specimen signatures list are strongly recommended in order to make
sure that the persons who signed on a supporting document are entitled to do so according to this
specimen signatory list. This list is kept by the Finance at coordination level.

2. Ordering process

In MSF, orders can be categorized into 3 different types:

- Those that request to be send to an MSF supply office to source the ordered items (Internal
Requests, Requesting Doc).

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

- Those that execute a purchase from an external supplier or an International Purchase (Purchasing
Doc)
- Those that request the withdrawal of goods from stock (Stock Withdrawal Doc)
The following section will focus on the first category.

The subjects of sourcing and purchasing being extensive topics in themselves, they are detailed in the
Procurement module.

Stock withdrawals are detailed in the Stock Management Module.

For a complete and detailed overview of all Supply forms, refer to the Supply Chain Administration and
Standard Procedures.

The order flow starts with the creation of internal requests. These are documents on which identified
needs are officially requested.

Internal requests are intended to guide the day-to-day supply of items at project or coordination level.

These requests are uniquely numbered and this number provides the central reference that links all
the resultant documents generated at the project level.

The majority of MSF field needs are for consumable items, which are most efficiently supplied through
maintenance of project stocks that are released to the consumption units when needed.

For non-consumable and other one-off items for which it is does not make sense to hold stocks, items
will either be purchased through local suppliers at project level or ordered from the Mission
Coordination.

Orders received in the Mission Coordination will be reviewed to see whether again, items can be
procured from stock, via a local purchase or whether they have to be ordered from an International
Supply Centre.

2.1 Request Management

a. Consolidation of activities

The amount of work that order processing constitutes is very dependent on the extent of activities in a
Mission and the local purchase options in the projects. However, regardless of the work volume, an
efficient work strategy should be in place.

Activities should be consolidated as much as possible and standard delivery lead times should be
determined with the projects.

The supply team must be aware of the priority activities that need to be undertaken in a given week.
This is most easily achieved through short planning meetings at the beginning of each week.

In projects that have a high volume of requests the consolidation of activities is a practical necessity
but the value of streamlining work will be useful in all contexts.

Regardless of the context there needs to be a clear process for the submission of internal requests to
the supply office.

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

Requesters should know to where, when and to whom they submit requests and when the request will
start to be processed, it could be on the same day as submission or on a fixed day per week.

If requests are submitted to a collection point, as opposed to a nominated individual, ideally there
should be a way of confirming to the requester that their request has been received.

As far as possible the issuing of internal requests should be based on an agreed regime. It is not
efficient and can be confusing if there is a totally unregulated stream of requests arriving in the supply
office. There should be set times at which authorised requesters review their needs and issue
requests.
The determination of the appropriate periodicity (once a month, once a week...) will depend on a
variety of factors: the ease of delivery of the requested items, the predictability of needs, the scale of
the needs, security issues, the storage capacity available etc., and has to be agreed on with the
project team.

A standard weekly work schedule for different activities (see below example) is a useful tool for the
supply team to plan their work efficiently.

Day Activity Responsible

Monday Screening and approval of requests Supply in charge

Preparation of purchase orders and stock

Tuesday Supply in charge
withdrawals for approval

Authorisation and dispatch of orders to

Supply in charge and
Wednesday suppliers and stock withdrawals to the
purchaser
storekeeper

In many contexts a fixed weekly task schedule is not possible since there is not a steady stream of
orders and the supply team will focus on different activities in different weeks.

For example one week may be dominated by reception of an international cargo and another by
dispatch of cargo to the projects.

There will still be emergency requests outside of the standard supply regime, some of which may be
legitimate and some of which may be due to poor or no planning. Whilst the supply office ultimately
feels the effect of poor request discipline it is the responsibility of the project team as a whole to
actively promote good practice.

b. Categorization of request

At this stage of the ordering process, it is still an internal MSF document. It is not the document that
binds MSF with external suppliers.

While the request consolidation refers to the timing where orders of the same type are placed, the
categorization of request is usually linked to logistics/supply, operational or financial (project and
budget follow-up) constraints. By consolidating the same type of request from the different requesters,
the Supply in charge will be able to consolidate and place the order(s) with the same supplier at once.

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OCG – Log Department – Supply Chain Unit – Supply Guideline – Need and planning

As a basic principle, orders from the requesters should be separated based on following logistical &
financial criteria:

1. One order per Requested Delivery Date

2. One order per Project Code
3. One order per item category (Medical or Logistics). Therapeutic food orders are part of medical
orders and orders for medical equipment must include the medical consumable and also the
technical spare parts.
4. One order per item family (Stationary, Hygiene, electricity, construction…)

For international orders

5. One order per transport mode
Following items can only be ordered selecting “Air” as transport mode.
- Items with a short lifespan (<24 months)
- Dangerous goods: all dangerous items should be shipped by air except the items with motors
(generator, cars, motor pump…)
- Keep Cool items: all items that require Cold Chain such as vaccines…
Be aware that if those items are mixed together with items requested to be sent by sea, the system will
automatically force the split of the order into Air and Sea transport modes. As consequence of this
split, a specific reference will be automatic assigned by the system to this new created order adding a
“/2” at the end of the initial order reference,

6. Depending on the country context, a separate Order should be created for Psycho-tropics &
Narcotics as a specific license is required for import/export.
On top of these basic rules, depending on the context, the mission can define additional rules to split
an order (e.g. items with major import constrain, different replenishment frequencies, categorization
per family, etc...).

But be cautious:

- Over-splitting of orders can result in slowing down the supply process by hampering effective
planning of orders and create a heavy administrative follow up.
- Unless it occurs by applying the basic principles of the order categorization, avoid having the
same items in different orders.
- The split of orders should not be a way to avoid complying with the purchase procedures by
falling under a lower financial threshold level and its respective lighter purchase procedures.

c. Definition of standard delivery lead times

Assuming that the requesters have been made aware by the Supply of the average lead-times by
product and sourcing in order to avoid unrealistic requested delivery dates, there should be from
Supply side standard commitments to deliver items of non-emergency requests within specified time

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frames (e.g. the supply team in a particular project may commit to supplying all items from stock and
local purchase to the consumption units within 5 working days).

This concept can be extended further, for instance by establishing monthly timetables for the
replenishment of clinics. The order chronogram as such is a formalisation of this commitment and
specifies when requests have to be submitted and when the supplies will be ready for collection or will
be delivered to the user.

2.2 Internal Request (IR)

In MSF, purchases of goods and services are made in response to formal requests. Are considered as
formal requests any written requests validated by an authorized requester such as Internal Request
(IR), E-mail, travel request, cash advance form…

All requests processed by the Supply have to be expressed through an IR with the exception of
transport and clearing services.

Internal requests are issued and processed at both project and Mission Coordination level and the
principles of management are the same for both.

This section summarizes the key principles for the management of Internal Requests; detailed
procedures are outlined in each section’s Standard Procedures and mission specific procedures in the
Mission Supply Chain Guideline.

a. Creation of an Internal Request

Internal requests are issued on a standard form with appropriate fields for validation; delivery details
and other standard header information. Refer to the Supply Chain Administration and Standard
Procedures for a detailed view of the document.

Item specifications on these forms are usually based on descriptions. There is no field for standard
item codes. This means that descriptions have to be precise and written clearly to ensure that there is
no confusion about the item that is required. However, for the sake of clarification, if the code is
known, this one should be mentioned.

Common practice is to work with books of internal request forms: one copy stays with the authorised
requester; one is for the Supply and eventually one for the Finance if the IR is used as purchasing
document (Refer to point Internal Request with estimated purchase value less than 200 CHF in the
Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures.

For scheduled replenishment requests that normally consist of a long list of items (e.g. a weekly
medical request from a hospital, 3 months orders for hygiene products, etc..) it is often more practical
to create specific internal request templates that list (description and code) all the standard items in
use in the particular consumption unit or project (based on the medical standard list). These request
templates ensure standard specification of items resulting in the correct items being supplied to the
requester. Some of these templates with a large number of items are in electronic format to allow
quick import into the supply software instead of manual encoding. (E.g.: EasyMed, Toyota order
sheet).

All internal requests should have a unique reference known to both the requester and the supply team
who will process the request. This reference is assigned by authorised requester when the request is
submitted to the logistics office. It is crucial that the referencing format is consistent for all internal

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requests. Refer to the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures for a detailed
explanation on how to fill in an Internal Request.

b. Validation of an Internal request

While all MSF staff can identify and express a need, only an authorized requester can validate it and
submit to the Supply in charge for processing. Apart from the obvious rule that only medical personnel
can identify and express the need of medical items, there are no fixed standards about who should be
the authorized requester to validate this need.

There should be only one authorized requester by consumption unit, regardless of the type of request
(Med or Log). In any case the authorized requestor doesn't have the technical competence ta validate
a specific item (E.g.: a nurse is the authorized requester for the clinic and has to validate the purchase
of a generator), he/ she has to refer to the technical referent to get advice on technical specification
prior to submitting the internal request.

Following the screening, content authorization is required from different persons according to the
Engagement of Expenditure table (also called Validation table).

c. Screening of Orders

The first step in the order process is the screening of the orders by the Supply in charge.

This screening should consider all areas but mainly:

Content:
Ensure that request follow the rules for order separation (refer in this section to point Creation of a
Requesting Document at project level – split of order) and contain all needed item information
(description, quantity, unit, specification…).

Where there are issues concerning the order content (mixed categories, quantity issues, item
specification issues, pricing...) those information should be request to the requester.

Delivery date:
It is very important for this date to be understood and agreed on by both parties since it is the basis of
planning in the field and provides the performance benchmark against which the Mission Coordination
will be measured.

Unless for emergency orders, the requested delivery date should be in accordance with the respective
average lead times for Mission Coordination and HQ sourced items.

Validation:
Ensure that the request have been validated by the right authorized requester.

d. Sourcing of Internal Requests

Upon receipt of the Internal Request, the Supply in charge checks whether an item can be supplied
from stock, ordered locally or to the Mission Coordination.

To make an informed sourcing decision both information on stock levels and local purchase
opportunities need to be up to date.

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An additional issue that is important when processing internal requests is to identify the items that in
theory should be supplied from stock but in reality were not available in sufficient quantity to fill the
request. In such situations, it should be investigated why the item was not present in sufficient quantity
(e.g. delayed delivery, higher than predicted consumption etc.). Furthermore if the item in question is
medical, any stock rupture needs to be documented and reported on.

Adhering to the following principles helps in maintaining control of the processing of requests and
meeting supply needs efficiently.

If items have to be ordered from the Mission Coordination they will almost always have a longer lead-
time than items sourced from stock or via a local purchase and this can complicate the follow up of the
request process.

In theory one item that is being supplied from the Mission Coordination can keep a whole request
open for several weeks after the other items were received. For this reason it is important to inform
users through the weekly order follow up where requested items are being routed to the Mission
Coordination and whether their requested delivery date (as specified on the internal request form) will
be met.

As far as possible requesters should be encouraged to separate items that will need to be ordered to
the Mission Coordination from other requests which will be supplied from stock or local suppliers. To
facilitate this, ensure that requesters are aware of the fixed moments when orders will be sent to the
Mission Coordination. (Refer in this section to the point related to Order planning).

2.3 Requesting Documents

This section summarizes the key principles for the management of Requesting Documents (Order
Request for emergency mission or Field Order for regular mission) sent by the project to the mission
coordination.

Detailed procedures are outlined in the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures as well
as in the mission specific procedures described in the Mission Supply Manual.

a. Creation of a Requesting Document at project level

Requesting Documents (Order Request for emergency mission or Field Order for regular mission) are
created at the project level in direct response to internal requests that cannot be sourced at project
level or to replenish stocks according to the order chronogram or when minimum stock levels are
reached (refer to the Stock Management module).

Linked to the Requesting Document are quotation requests. These can be sent to the Mission
Coordination when pricing information is not known and the project wants to know the cost before
placing the order.

The latest cost of most items should be known by the projects via the regular update of the article data
base. For items that are usually items not regularly ordered, it is often that the price is not updated in
the data base. Thus the need to request a quotation to the Mission Coordination on the basis of which
the Requesting Document will be validated in order to confirm the order and authorised its processing
by the Supply office at coordination level.

b. Screening of the Requesting Document

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Requesting Document is received by the Supply in charge in the Mission Coordination.

The first step in the order process is the screening of the orders by the Supply in charge at
coordination level.

This screening should consider all areas but mainly:

Content:
Ensure that request follow the rules for order separation (refer in this section to point Creation of a
Requesting Document at project level – split of order) and contain all needed item information
(description, quantity, unit, specification…).

Where there are issues concerning the order content (mixed categories, quantity issues, item
specification issues, pricing...), the product availability or the delivery modalities (address, transport
mode, delivery date), the initial order can be ultimately modified, corrected or even cancelled.

For emergency mission: An order confirmation including the eventual modifications (validated by
technical referent) must in any case be communicated to the requester. This communication can be
done through the weekly order follow-up also called order monitoring.

Delivery date:
It is very important for this date to be understood and agreed on by both parties since it is the basis of
planning in the field and provides the performance benchmark against which the Mission Coordination
will be measured.

Unless for emergency orders, the requested delivery date should be in accordance with the respective
average lead times for Mission Coordination and HQ sourced items.

c. Sourcing of orders

Once the order has been screened and any necessary amendments updated in the respective project
and Mission Coordination administrations, the Supply in charge determines where items will be
sourced. This decision has to respect the procurement policies and procedures defined for the
Missions and available in the Supply Mission Manual. The most important decision is whether the
items should be routed to local, regional or international suppliers (MSF Logistique or Geneva
Headquarters.

The issuing of orders to local and regional suppliers is detailed in the Procurement module. For orders
routed to internal suppliers, refer to the MSF Logistique Web portal User’s Manual available directly on
the web portal.

2.4 Special orders

They are orders made by at one supply level on behalf of another supply level.
Push orders (UniField): are orders placed by the Mission Coordination on behalf of the project
usually in response to an operational need that was not planned by the project and that needs to be
addressed very quickly.
HQ Orders (9000): are orders placed at Head Quarters level on behalf of a mission especially during
the first phase of emergencies.
The management of this type of orders require frequent order reviews and regular information
exchanges between all the levels and parties concerned. The order flow being in the reverse order as

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a normal order, refer to the UniField user’s manual available on the tools directly for the detailed
procedure on how to process them.
The validation of these special orders is done at the level where they were placed.

2.5 Order Follow Up

The follow up of requests is intended to ensure:

▪ That requests are met on time

▪ That the appropriate procedures have been observed and that these can be followed
through a clear chain of documents.
▪ A proper follow-up and communication between the Supply team and the requesters.

The principles of the follow up are the same at the project and coordination level and the key aspects
are listed below:

▪ The follow-up of requests should be based on their unique reference number.

▪ The database should be updated on a daily basis to ensure that the information it contains
is update and can be used to give status updates to requesters or the supply team.
▪ The Supply in charge needs to monitor the activities of storekeeper/purchaser to ensure
that delivery deadlines are met.
The purchaser in charge is responsible for ensuring that items on purchase orders are delivered by the
suppliers to the Mission Coordination warehouses by the agreed delivery date. (S)he has the
responsibility to inform the Supply in charge if there will be any delays, the reasons for the delays and
the new expected delivery date.

The purchase order can only be closed when all items are received in full quantity in the right
condition, as confirmed by a signed reception document and when the supplier receipt or invoice has
been approved.

An “IR follow up” has to be done. Depending on the size of the supply volumes, this follow up can
have different form:

▪ Where supply volumes are low; a simple and proper filling of the IR in the IR binder can be
enough to allow this follow up.
▪ Where supply volumes are high, use of an “IR follow up” file can be an efficient way of
keeping the supply team and the requesters informed of the current request statuses and
priorities. However it is only useful if it is kept up to date. Refer to the Supply Chain
Administration and Standard Procedures for a template.

Finally it’s up to the Supply in charge to decide what the best is for him / her to keep an overview on
the IR and be able at any time to update the requesters on the status of their IR.
For international orders, routine follow up, such as confirmation on the timing of deliveries, is done
between the Supply in charge at coordination level and the MSF Logistique operator.

The latest order overview is available on the MSF Logistique Web portal and enables the missions to
be in possession of the latest status of any item line on any order.

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Following the sending of an order to MSF Logistique, the Supply in charge should ensure that the new
order appears as expected on the order follow up.

Similarly, after any delivery from MSF Logistique, the Mission Coordination should compare their order
follow up with that of MSF Logistique. Any discrepancies should be reported to MSF Logistique upon
reception through the MSF Logistique web portal by raising a claim.

International orders are closed when the goods are received in the Mission coordination as verified by
a signed goods receipt document and the reception acknowledged on the MSF Logistique web portal.

Invoice validation is carried out through the web portal at Headquarters level.

a. Communication with the Project

The Supply in charge in the Mission Coordination is responsible for updating the database on a daily
basis such that up-to-date information can be provided to the projects whenever requested.

As a minimum, order follow up should be provided to each project on regular basis, ideally on a weekly
basis. This file is a communication tool between the supply team and the requester, It should be use to
exchange information especially on back orders and expected delivery date.

Most information that the Supply in charge in the Mission Coordination needs to provide to the project
are:

– If quotation is still ongoing, date and place (local, regional) where it was requested.
– If validation is still ongoing, level where it is pending ( project, coordination, headquarters)
– If confirmed delivery date to project is not going to be met, inform project about new delivery
date. This pre-warning is important since it gives the field time to assess the likely impact of
the delayed delivery and ascertain whether any contingency strategies are necessary.
.

3. Validation of the Engagement of Expenditure for purchase of goods or

supply services

All orders need to be validated by one or more persons before any action is taken to process them.
Staff has a responsibility to only incur expense s that are in line with the mission objectives,
necessary and good value for money.

Expenditure commitments and payments must follow procurement procedures and only be made
when accompanied by:

- Relevant authorization, according to the “Engagement of Expenditure Validation Table” (Refer

to the Engagement of Expenditure Validation Table in the Supply Chain Administration and
Standard Procedures).

- Auditable documentation

- Sufficient information to be able to code the expense (description identifies premise /

intended use... and/or project, account code & result)

In order to reduce risks of fraud, there must be segregation of duties so that one person never has
control of the whole of any financial process. This is also referred to as the 4 eyes principle
whereby it should never be the same person who requests and approves, or who performs and then

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controls. E.g. financial transactions must be prepared by one person and reviewed by another; no
person can be responsible for authorising purchase, making the purchase and paying for it.

The purpose of the Engagement of expenditures policy is to clarify (distinguish) who checks and
validates:

- The need (& destination)

- The budget availability (& allocation => commitment)

- The sourcing (stock / purchase / reception…) and procurement process

- The payment

This validation takes the form of a signature and it basically signifies that the signing party accepts
responsibility (or part responsibility where there is more than one signatory) for the order.

Too often the importance of this responsibility is overlooked and insufficient attention is given to order
approvals. This manifests itself at all levels in a Mission, from a medical supervisor approving drug
requests from a clinic without checking the previous delivery, to a Project Coordinator approving
orders without referring to the budget.

In theory, when processing requests or orders MSF has a healthy series of checks to ensure that any
mistakes are picked up at one level or another. However this can be counterproductive if the
approving parties assume that others are checking properly and that this somehow lessens their
responsibility.

1.1 Responsibilities in the validation of the engagement of expenditure

Depending on the amount of expenditure to engage, the order validation requires the approval of
various stakeholders on operational, financial and technical aspects. (Refer to the Engagement of
Expenditure Table in the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures to see the different
financial thresholds)

a. Authorized requester

For purchases of small amount (= first financial threshold according to the Validation table), beside the
validations of the operational need and technical specification, the signature of the authorized
requester directly on the Internal Request is considered as a commitment to engage the expenditure
mentioned on the Internal Request.

b. Supply

By signing the supporting document to engage the expenditure, the Supply in charge guarantees:

- The appropriate sourcing according to Technical referent specifications if any.

- The compliance with the required purchasing method according to the financial level.

- The appropriate preparation / documentation for the purchase to be done.

c. Technical validation by Technical Referent

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Before endorsing the order with his/ her signature, the technical referent has to be satisfied with the
item specification (has to be fit for purpose) and quantities requested for each item line.

By signing the supporting document to engage the expenditure, the technical referent ensures:

- The technical validation of the goods.

- The goods and the sourcing choice match the operational needs.

- The appropriate preparation / documentation for the purchase to be done.

- The availability of budget and proper budget allocation (cost centers).

d. Financial validation by Finance

By signing the supporting document to engage the expenditure, the Finance in charge crosschecks:

- The availability of budget and the proper budget allocation (cost centers).

- The compliance with the required purchasing method according to the financial level.

-The presence of the required documentation according to the financial level

e. Operational validation by Operations

By signing the supporting document to engage the expenditure, the Operations represented by the
budget holders crosscheck:

- The goods and the sourcing choice match the operational needs.

- The availability of budget (in collaboration with Finance)

f. Specimen signatory list

Produced by the Finance in charge, this is the list of names, positions and specimen signatures of all
persons (Supply, Technical Referent, Finance, Operations) in the mission who sign documents such
as Internal Request, Purchasing Document, contracts, invoices, cash and bank settlement, etc….This
list in kept by the Finance at coordination level.

It also includes specimen signatures of standard backups for each signatory. Regular cross checks
with this list are strongly recommended in order to make sure that the persons who signed on a
supporting document are entitled to do so according to this specimen signatory list.

2.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure for local purchase

Depending on the amount of a request, the validation of the engagement of expenditure will be done
either directly on the Internal Request or on the document containing the last price confirmed by the
supplier. Refer to the Validation table in the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures to
see the different financial threshold and required signatures.

a. Internal Request for purchase of small amount

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For Internal Request sourced to local suppliers and with an estimated small amount (= first financial
threshold according to the Validation table) the validation of the engagement of expenditure will be
done directly on the Internal Request. The estimation of the amount is based on the knowledge of the
prices obtained after negotiations with suppliers and formalized either through a framework agreement
or a negotiated price list. Where no framework agreements or negotiated price list yet exist, the
knowledge of the market average price can be used as a temporary method.

b. Document with price confirmed by the supplier

For orders with an amount from the second financial threshold according to the Validation table, the
validation will be done on the document containing the last price confirmed by the supplier. Depending
on the mission, this document will be:

- The Order Request Confirmation (ORC) for emergency missions - The Purchase Order for regular
mission

In any case, the Supply has to provide the stakeholders involved in the validation process with a
complete purchase file as support for the validation of engagement of expenditure. (Refer to the
Procurement module). Whenever a framework agreement was concluded with a supplier with whom
the order will be placed, a mention of this framework agreement has to be put on the document on
which the validation has to be done.

c. New validation following price increase

In case of modification of price and/or quantity leading to an increase of the total amount of the
validated document, a new validation has to be done. Depending on the percentage of the increase
and the mission, this new validation has to be done at a different stage of the purchase process and
on different document:

- Before the placing of the order for emergency mission. A new validation of the Order Request
Confirmation is required only if the price increase leads to 10% increase of the total amount of the
initial validated ORC.

- When validating the payment of an order for regular mission. If the amount of the invoice is higher
than the one of the validated Purchase Order, and if this increase leads to a higher financial threshold
according to the Validation table, the Invoice has to be validated by the persons required to validate
the engagement of expenditure according to the new financial threshold.

3.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure for international purchase

a. Validation of international orders through MSF Logistique web portal

No matter the amount of the orders routed to international suppliers (MSF Logistique or OCG
Headquarters), they are all placed via the MSF Logistique web portal and their validations will be done
directly through the web portal following different financial thresholds than the ones applying for local
purchases. The validation of international orders always involves people from the Headquarters.
(Refer to the Validation process of international orders in the section the Supply Chain Administration
and Standard Procedures to see the different financial thresholds and persons from the Headquarters
involved in this validation process).

b. New validation following price increase

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For any modification of price/ quantity of an international order leading to an increase of the total
amount of the initial validated order, a new validation is required only from people involved in the
validation process at Headquarter level. This new validation is also done directly through the web
portal and involves only people from the Headquarters according to the same financial thresholds as
the ones applying for the initial validation. (Refer to MSF Logistique Web portal User’s Manual)

4.1 Validation of the engagement of expenditure of local purchase of supply services

For practical reasons, in most cases there is no Internal Request in support of an order for supply
services. (Refer to the point related to Internal Request in the MSF order flow explaining the reasons
about the absence of IR)

a. Validation of transport services

Any local purchase of transport services for a specific shipment has to be formalized through a
contract of road or air transport. (Refer to the Supply Chain Administration and Standard Procedures
for the template of a road and air transport contract). The validation of the engagement of expenditure
will be done directly on this contract by the persons required to sign according to the template.

In missions where the transport services are encoded into the Supply software, the document issued
from it, cannot be considered as the supporting document for the engagement of expenditure. The
reason being that it will just be an additional document to validate which can anyway not replace the
transport contract as it doesn’t contain all the detailed information related to the driver, the truck, the
cargo content, etc…

b. Validation of clearing services

Unlike the transport services for which a contract transport is produced and considered as the
supporting document to validate the engagement of expenditure, for clearing services there is rarely
an agreement made for each transaction. Usually the clearing agent is contacted directly upon MSF
Logistique’s request for green light to proceed with the pre clearance process.

However a framework agreement, wherever and whenever possible has to be negotiated to have a
minimum of rules to frame the relationships as well as a fixed prices for each specific services. In the
absence of any supporting document to validate the engagement of expenditure of each specific
clearing service, a print out of the mail sent to the clearing agent specifying the service needed and
confirming the price according to fixed tariffs defined in the framework agreement can replace a
separate agreement as well as the supporting document to validate the expenditure.

In missions where the clearing services are encoded into the Supply software, the document issued
from it, can be considered as the supporting document for the engagement of expenditure

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