The American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS) is an established non-profit provider of certifications associated with supply chain. It is built upon the foundation of ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management) and along with offering new products and services it offers comprehensive training programs as well.

APICS Certification Track

APICS offers accreditations to individuals depending on their professional needs and goals. On the whole this vendor offers 4 certifications, three of them include the spheres of supply chain, logistics, and inventory management, and the corresponding certificates include CSCP, CLTD, and CPIM. One more certification that will help you to master your skills on the professional level referring to SCOR business model, is the SCOR-P. It equips you with skills to improve and operate supply chain performance. This certificate is considered to be an exclusive certification issued by APICS.

APICS CLTD

CLTD stands for Certified in Logistics, Transportation, and Distribution. Acquiring it is a way for proving how in-depth your knowledge is in these spheres including order, distribution, and warehouse management. To gain this certification exam-takers have to sit for the CLTD exam which covers nine modules, including the following:

• Logistics overview & strategy
• Logistics network design
• Sustainability & reverse logistics
• Capacity planning & demand management
• Order management
• Inventory management
• Warehouse management
• Transportation
• Global logistics

The applicants for the CLTD exam will have 150 questions, where only 130 will be scored. The completion time is 3.5 hours while the scores will be ranging from 200-350. Passing this exam requires 300 and more marks. When it comes to the enrollment fee, members of ASCM will pay $895 for registration, while those who hold no ASCM membership will pay $1,195.

CPIM

With the CPIM (Basics of Supply Chain Management) exam, you get the Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM) certificate. It shows how comprehensive the operations of your organization are and if your comprehension is deep regarding materials management, forecasting, master scheduling, as well as production planning. Also, it concerns how the same will be applying to the entire supply chain.

Currently, two versions of exams are available on the official website, CPIM 6.0 and a new one CPIM 7.0. The first one will be discontinued on 2 April, 2022.

Speaking of the CPIM 7.0 exam version, it was launched on 25 February, 2021. The exam reflects the possibility of effectively managing disruptions, variations in demand, as well as risk in supply chain. The process of passing the APICS CPIM exam is divided into 2 parts or modules, which are known as Part 1 and Part 2. Note that you are expected to pass Part 2 within three years of having passed the first one. The first part includes 6 domains that you are to cover in your preparation process and they are the following:

• Overview of supply chain
• Demand management fundamentals
• Planning supply
• Executing supply plan
• Inventory management
• Continuous improvement or quality management in addition to technologies

Referring the Part 2 of the CPIM exam, it consists of 9 domains you should master before opting for this part. They are the following ones:

• Arrange the supply chain to support the business strategy
• Lead planning for operations and sales to support strategy
• Plan & manage demand
• Plan & manage supply
• Plan & manage inventory
• Plan, manage, and carry out detailed schedules
• Plan & manage distribution
• Provide quality, continuous improvement, and technology

Each of the CPIM exams comprises 150 questions, but only 130 are scored. To complete them, you’ll be awarded 3.5 hours. The passing score for the exams is considered to be 300 points and the max score is 350. Speaking of the fees, if you’re a member of ASCM, each of the CPIM exams will cost you $495, but if you aren’t a member, your fee will be $690.

CSCP

The Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) certification proves your outstanding knowledge of the core concepts, technology, and strategies used in the modern extended supply chain. Before enrolling in this process, check that you meet at least one of these requirements:

• Business experience of 3 years
• A bachelor’s degree or any equivalent international qualification
• Active CPIM, CPIM-F, SCOR-P, CIRM, CPSM, CTL, CPM, or CTLD certificate

After that, get the main details about the CSCP exam, as it requires comprehensively indulging in the three modules linked to it. These include:

• Design for supply chain
• Planning and executing supply chain
• Improvement as well as best practices for supply chain

To complete the certification process, you need to ace the evaluation carrying 150 questions, where your scores will be based on 130 questions, and you will be given 3.5 hours to accomplish them. Marks are going to start from 200 to 350, and with 300 or more you’ll get qualified for the successive step of accreditation. If you are a member of ASCM, you will pay $995, while for non-members the exam cost will be much higher - $1,295.

Career Opportunities

The three above-mentioned accreditations advance the best way to link up with your colleagues and take your career a notch higher. The latest industry insights regarding supply chain, including innovations and operations are what the certificates are about. The associated roles include supply chain manager, logistics analyst, logistics manager, purchasing manager, operations manager, and more.

Leading industries that embrace professionals who have any of these certificates include manufacturing, defense, services, consulting, and government as well as education, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and distribution. Regarding salaries, CPIMs are likely to make about $89k while CSCPs can make around $52k annually. On the other hand, logistics analysts earn around $53k while logistics managers earn about $62k. This information regarding salaries is what ZipRecruiter.com has revealed.

Other than getting your way into amazing opportunities career wise, checking out for when your certificate should expire must not be forgotten. Maintaining it will keep you on track with the respective skills and will enable you to keep tabs with what is new in the sphere. This includes submitting 75 PD maintenance points after every 5 years.

Certification Path

The CPIM certificate targets the basics of supply chain. Thus, after holding it, moving to the CSCP certificate is highly advisable. Still, with either of the three, you can seek the SCOR-P certification. This enables professionals who already have some background in supply chain to help their employers or organizations to apply digitization in their operations. This is where you’ll learn the tools used in driving SCOR executions alongside your team. The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) model is a tool for management utilized in addressing, improving, and communicating management decisions related to supply chain.