APICS Certification

The Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) program was introduced in 1973 by APICS. APICS designed the CPIM program in response to the increasing complexities and technological advances that mandate a continual increase in the skills and knowledge of workers in the manufacturing and service sectors.

CPIM offers the manufacturing professional in-depth knowledge within specialized functional areas in the production and inventory management (P&IM) environment. Increased technical knowledge and expertise gained from the course of study enhances the ability of the CPIM professional to predict outcomes accurately and apply actions that achieve results.This past year,the CPIM certification was reconfigured to better suite the current trends in logistics management. To find out more about CPIM reconfiguration, click here.

This list shows the five tests needed to become CPIM certified. If you are interested in taking an exam, you can contact Kathleen Wall in South Hall 102 or go sign up for a test date today.

Basics of Supply Chain Management

This is an introductory course for production and inventory management personnel and CPIM candidates. This course provides basic definitions and concepts for planning and controlling the flow of materials into, through, and out of an organization. It explains fundamental relationships among the activities that occur in the supply chain from suppliers to customers. In addition, the course addresses types of manufacturing systems, forecasting, master planning, material requirements planning, capacity management, production activity control, purchasing, inventory management, distribution, quality management, and Just-in-Time manufacturing.

Master Planning of Resources

In this course, students explore processes used to: develop sales and operations plans; identify and assess internal and external demand and forecasting requirements; and effect an achievable master schedule consistent with business policies, objectives, and resource constraints. The course focuses on developing and validating a plan of supply, relating management of demand to the environment, and developing and validating the master schedule.

In addition, the course encompasses concepts for transforming sales, marketing, and business requirements into a feasible and economic operations plan in various business environments. It also addresses concepts and methodologies for managing projected and actual demands from distribution networks and external customers. Finally, the course presents methods for integrating sales and operations plans, demand forecasts, and customer demand into a specific master schedule.

Detailed Scheduling and Planning

This course focuses on material and capacity scheduling and planning. It includes a detailed explanation of material requirements planning (MRP), a technique suitable for use in job shops. The course also introduces another material planning technique, material-dominated scheduling, which is applicable to process industries and other mature production environments. The course explains capacity requirements planning in detail and introduces other capacity-planning techniques, including processor-dominated scheduling.

Execution and Control of Operations

This course focuses on three main areas: prioritizing and sequencing work; executing work plans, implementing controls, and reporting activity results; and evaluating and providing feedback on performance. The course explains techniques for scheduling and controlling production and process operations. It also addresses the execution of quality initiatives and continuous improvement plans as well as controlling and handling inventories. Finally, the course presents techniques for evaluating performance and collecting data for effective feedback.

Strategic Management of Operations

In this course, students explore the relationship of existing and emerging processes and technologies to manufacturing strategy and supply-chain-related functions. The course addresses three main topics: aligning resources with the strategic plan, configuring and integrating operating processes to support the strategic plan, and implementing change.