What is PipeLine?
How does PipeLine work?
New features of PipeLine Version 4.0
Countries where PipeLine is used
PipeLine minimum system requirements
Download PipeLine

What is PipeLine?

PipeLine Version 4.0 is more user-friendly! Using its enhanced features, you can easily import and export data for managing a wide range of health commodities for programs, including reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

To be successful, public health programs must always have enough medicines and supplies to meet the needs of their clients. At the same time, programs must avoid surpluses that waste products and money. PipeLine is a best-in-class desktop software tool-it helps program managers plan optimal procurement and delivery schedules for health commodities, and it monitors their orders throughout the supply chain. Policymakers, product suppliers, and donors can generate reports, estimate future product needs, and use the software as a key tool in program planning. This effective tool has been used in more than 40 countries around the world.

PipeLine, developed first for contraceptives, has been expanded to manage a full range of health commodities: antiretrovirals, malaria and tuberculosis drugs, HIV test kits, and laboratory supplies.

How does PipeLine work?

For each medicine or health product in a program, PipeLine helps track—

• the rate at which commodities are used
• what has been ordered but not yet received
• total quantity available at all storage facilities and health care facilities
• total amount of losses (due to expiry and damage) or transfers
• time required for the product to arrive after it is ordered.
  

With these data, PipeLine can be used to—

• identify when to order new products and what actions are needed to do so
  
• identify shortfalls, surpluses, stockouts, and other pipeline problems
  
• forecast future needs..
  

New features of PipeLine Version 4.0

• Automation for efficiency and accuracy-product information, including prices, product availability, and registration status can be automatically transferred from an .xml file. Forecasting data can be imported from .xml files that were exported from other automated MIS software packages, such as Quantimed or Supply Chain Manager.
• Enhanced visibility—for demand planning, export shipment, and consumption and stock data.
• Information sharing—share inventory data with stakeholders to prevent overstocks or stockouts, and share demand planning data with suppliers.
  
• Flexible reporting—export reports to Microsoft Excel to sort and view data.
  
• Health indicators—using consumption data, calculate product coverage, such as a patient year of treatment based on the quantity required to treat one patient for one year.
  
• Five language options—the software is available in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. On-line help and user's guides are available in English. Click here to download the English user's manual.
  
  
  

Countries Where PipeLine Is Used

In most developing nations, the process of budgeting, procuring, and shipping contraceptives is quite lengthy. Having a reliable procurement plan for one to two years into the future is critical for ensuring that all people have continuous access to the contraceptives they need, where and when they need them. In Mali, the staff who manage contraceptives in the public sector and in the social marketing sector use PipeLine at least once per year to share knowledge and plan collaboratively. This helps to continuously improve the management of national stocks and to ensure appropriate procurement plans.

As part of the annual exercise to prepare Contraceptive Procurement Tables (CPTs) in Ghana, the resident advisor holds a workshop with the country's three family planning program stakeholders: the Ministry of Health, the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, and the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation. Each program comes to the workshop with up-to-date PipeLine data. The programs then use the software to forecast contraceptive demand based on usage trends. Graphs produced with PipeLine facilitate presentation of the CPT results by stakeholders to local donor representatives, several of whom have also been trained to use PipeLine.

Minimum system requirements

The following resources are recommended for use with PipeLine—

• PC with Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP
• Microsoft Office 2003 with Service Pack 2
• 500 MB of hard drive space
• 256 MB of memory
• CPU with Pentium III or higher
• Video Adapter (SVGA with 800 x 600 resolution)

Download PipeLine

To download and install PipeLine you need to submit the PipeLine Password Request Form. On the form you must provide a valid email address so that we can send you the password needed to unlock the software. Please click here to access the PipeLine Password Request Form.

Please Note: The PipeLine file is large (60MB). If your internet connection is slow or unreliable, request a copy of the PipeLine CD by emailing askdeliver@jsi.com now.

Download: Before downloading, you must fill out the Password Request Form (see above). Click here to download the PipeLine zip file.

Installation instructions: Click the links below for instructions on installing PipeLine 4.0:
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