This is an old revision of the document!


Terms of Reference (TOR) for developers working on Logistics Management System for Sahana

The Logistics Management System for Sahana is envisioned to be composed of several sub-modules that work together to provide complex functionality for the management of relief and project items by an organization. This includes an intake system, a warehouse management system, commodity tracking, supply chain management, fleet management, procurement, financial tracking and other asset and resource management capabilities.

Designing a logistics management system is a high priority for Sahana as defined by its community. We now have a lot of resources that are available to work on such a system. We need to ensure that there is no needless duplication of effort, that people collaboratively share their design ideas, that the design is based on the specifications and requirements as defined by end-users and domain experts, and that communication between developers remains active and public.

Process

Here is the proposed process for managing the development of the Logistics Management System for Sahana:

  • Advisory Team: A self-appointed advisory team of domain experts in emergency & logistics management from the community shall serve to oversee the requirements definition, review design schema, and to conduct functionality testing throughout the design process.
  • A strong framework and LogisticsAPI must be developed as the basis for all logistics work to ensure compatibility and interoperability with other efforts. This should be posted on the requirements wiki to ensure access by anyone undertaking work on a part of the logistics system. We need a volunteer team to take this on. This should be completed by May 1, 2009.
  • All design information/documentation and status updates are maintained and current on the wiki at req:logistics_module. This includes all requirements definitions, logical diagrams, design schema, table structure diagrams, and other design components that shall serve as a common repository for all individuals working on aspects of the logistics management system.
  • Proposed design schema, plus table structure diagrams and proposed changes to libraries such as the aid catalogue – that will be required for the handling of special items such as drugs and medicines – should be reviewed and validated by the Advisory Team and fully documented on the wiki.
  • Once work begins, all logistics code should be published to the community at least weekly in a public and official Sahana repository.
  • For each project, all logistics sub-modules should have a single owner that is identified on the wiki.
  • All development discussions are expected to be active and public – using the maindev mailing list to report progress on coding or to ask questions or for advice – messages should be prefaced with [logistics] for ease of filtering.

Assignment

Advisory Team

The advisory team of Domain Experts is:

Name IRC Nick e-mail
Mark Prutsalis mprutsalis mark at globaliist dot com
Michael Howden michael dot howden at gmail dot com

Framework

tbd

Design Schema & Requirements

Development

Design Teams

Sub-module ownership log

Name Project Module Working On IRC Nick e-mail
Ajay Kumar SahanaPy Intake & Inventory management ajuonline ajuonline at gmail

Coordination Meetings

All meetings held in #sahana on freenode.

Friday, May 22, 2009, 1500 UTC - see logs (starts at 06:57) and meeting notes
Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 1500 UTC - see logs (starts at 06:57) and meeting notes

Other Reference Material


QR Code
QR Code req:logistics_module (generated for current page)