Supply Chain FAQ's

1. Does APICS Certifications are valued in India?
APICS Certifications are valued wherever the global supply chain involves. In India, supply chain companies prefer APICS certified professionals for their leadership roles. You can find the companies which prefer APICS certified professionals in India.

2. How many APICS CPIM certified professionals are there in the world?
There are more than 1,00,000 professionals who are CPIM certified from its inception.

3. What is the eligibility for APICS CPIM certification?
Anyone, willing to make their career into supply chain and wish to update their knowledge in inventory and production field, are eligible to appear for CPIM. There are no age limit or minimum qualifications or previous experience required. For more details click here CSCP,  CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

4. Does APICS supply chain certifications valued among supply chain community?
APICS certifications, especially CPIM and CSCP are most valued and most sought as it is evident from its ranking at first and second respectively, from a survey conducted among supply chain professionals around the world.

5. What are the traits of best supply chain management courses?
A best supply chain management course should be able to create, not just a supply chain manager, but a professional who can understand the evolving best practises of the industry and at the same time, he can be able to elicit the requirements of his organization and acts accordingly. APICS CSCP is one of the kind, even though it is not a regular supply chain management course, the body of knowledge it provides is clearly better than most of the supply chain management courses available in the world.

6. What is the eligibility for APICS CLTD certification?
The candidate shall have three years of business experience or a bachelor's degree or holds any one the CPIM, CTL, CSCP, CFPIM, CIRM, SCOR-P, CPM, CSM, CPSM certifications. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

7. What is the duration for CPIM course?
Even though it depends on the individuals, on an average each module would take from 1 to 3 months for preparation. Assuming that one can clear the exam in one attempt, it would take at around 5 months to one year to become CPIM Certified.

8. What is the eligibility for APICS CSCP certification?
The candidate shall have three years of supply chain related experience or a bachelor's degree or holds any one the CPIM, CTL, CLTD, CFPIM, CIRM, SCOR-P, CPM, CSM, CPSM certifications.

9. What is the structure of CSCP exam?
Please click here to find the exam details for APICS CSCP. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

10. Does IISCM provide diploma in logistics and supply chain management?
IISCM, a Unit of Fhyzics, provides training and examination support for candidates aspiring for APICS Certifications. The training courses provided by IISCM are not the regular MBA kind of supply chain management program and it is not affiliated with any universities.

11. What are the training courses provided by Indian Institute of Supply Chain Management (IISCM)?
Indian Institute of Supply Chain Management provides Development Programs in supply chain and training courses for APICS Certifications like Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management), and Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD). For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

12. About APICS
American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) is a 60 year old supply chain organization which provides education and certification programs to the professionals around the world. This non-profit organization is known for setting industry standards and influencing companies towards industry best practises, through the body of knowledge of its certifications.

13. What is supply chain management?
Supply chain management is a set of methods and approaches to manage and integrate various stakeholders of supply chain i.e. suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers, efficiently and effectively, to make sure the right products and services are produced and delivered in right quantity, at right locations, at right time at minimized cost of the whole system with the available resources while satisfying the requirements at service level.

14. Is CPIM BSCM and CPIM Part 1 exam one and the same?
Yes. The curriculum for the both the exams are same, i.e. Module1 of CPIM Course Curriculum. The CPIM Certification Exam is being reconfigured. The new version has two levels of exams i.e. CPIM Part 1 and CPIM Part 2. Even though the reconfigured version is available only from January 2018, candidates can take the existing CPIM, BSCM now and take the CPIM Part 2 exam directly from January, as both are considered same. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

15. What is the difference between production and operations management?
Production management involves managing the activities involved in converting the raw material into finished good or service and objective will be producing more products and achieving target. Whereas operations management involves managing all the activities of business operations and will be focusing more on profit, reducing cost and increasing efficiency.

16. How much does the CPIM certification cost?
The exam fee alone for the each level of CPIM certification would cost around $325 for international Plus Members. For others, each level would cost around $410.

17. With an APICS certification, can one get a job in one of the supply chain consulting firms?
Yes. Supply chain consulting firms prefer APICS certified professionals, especially CSCP, because the body of knowledge of these certifications are intensive and continuously updated. Supply chain consultants with one of these certifications can easily come up with a innovate solutions for any kind of supply chain issues.

18. Which certification would be preferable for a fresher for an introduction to supply chain management?
For an introduction to supply chain management, one can go for CPIM BSCM (Basics of Supply Chain Management). This certification can be applied even by candidates without an undergraduate degree and learn about supply chain and at the same time can add value in their profile. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

19. I am currently functioning within inventory management. Which is suitable for me? CSCP or CPIM?
If you are looking for a career within the inventory management and interested in mastering in inventory management, you can choose CPIM. On the contrary, if you are looking for career across the supply chain and willing to broaden your knowledge to the end-to-end supply chain, you can decide on pursuing CSCP.

20. Which is best certification for material management?
Material management is the part of CPIM body of knowledge. And it is the best among supply chain certifications.

21. Which certification is suitable for a professional in logistics and distribution field?
You can pursue CLTD whose body of knowledge covers logistics, distribution and also the transportation. Although it is new in the market, it is provided by most renowned APICS, USA and so it is valued better among the supply chain community. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

22. Does IISCM provide scm consulting?
Indian Institute of Supply Chain Management is a Unit of Fhyzics Business Consultants Private Limited. Fhyzics provides range of consulting services from business strategy to process improvement in almost all the domains including supply chain.

23. Suggest me a suitable certification to gain in-depth knowledge on transportation in supply chain management
Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) is the best certification to improve your knowledge on transportation and to update yourself with the best practises in transportation.

24. Does the curriculum of CLTD include global logistics?
Yes. Module six of the body of knowledge of CLTD Certification solely focus on global logistics. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

25. Does the curriculum of CSCP include supply chain operation?
Yes. The curriculum of CSCP is structured in a way that the major part of it focuses on building the supply chain and its strategy. The remaining is comprised of operation part of the supply chain.

26. Does CSCP add value to a professional in warehouse design?
CSCP will add value to any supply chain professionals in purchasing, operations, warehouse, logistics, business analysis, supply chain analysis, materials management, supply chain projects, and consulting.

27. Does the curriculum is changed with the reconfiguration of CPIM APICS?
No. The body of knowledge is not altered. The candidates will be tested on the same knowledge but the examination is the only thing being reconfigured. New CPIM will have two exams of 3.5 hours long duration and 150 questions for each. For more details click here CSCP, CLTD and CPIM Certifications.

28. With an MBA in logistics and supply chain management, can I appear for CSCP certification?
Yes. You are completely eligible for appearing CSCP and it’s an added advantage for your career in supply chain.

29. Is CSCP recognised worldwide?
CSCP and other APICS certifications like CLTD, CPIM are all global certifications and recognised as best by the supply chain community.

30. Does achieving a supply chain certification help me to excel in my supply chain career?
The certification is only the by-product. The knowledge acquired during the process is the critical earning which would help you to excel in your career. A better certification is measured on how well it is structured and continuously updated thus it creates value to the candidates who are pursuing it. And it’s vice versa also true. A better candidate is judged based on the certification he/she possess. pl add this to IISCM FAQ.

31. I want to learn about operations management. Does APICS CPIM would be the better choice?
Operations management is a vast area. The curriculum of APICS CPIM overlaps with it but it focuses in depth on in-house operations. The operations management is not only that but also includes services and business operations. So you should not stop only with CPIM but also explore more on business perspective.

32. What is the best certification course in logistics management?
Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) is widely accepted global certification course provided by the renowned APICS, USA.

33. What is the difference between production and operations management?
Managing the entire processes starting from procurement, production, inventory, distribution and services of a business is known as operations management. The major objective is to focus on efficiency and effectiveness of the operations. The production management is managing the entire operations involved in converting a raw material into the final product, effectively and efficiently.

34. What is production management?
Refer the answer for the difference between production and operations management.

35. What is scaled scoring method followed by CSCP Exam?
The scaled scoring method is different from the linear scoring method which many exams follow. In linear scoring method all the questions will have the equal weightage. If you answered 80 questions correctly out of 100, then score will be 80%. But in case of scaled scoring method, each question will have different weightage based on its difficult level and the score for them will vary accordingly. In CSCP examination the number of questions with difficulty level will also vary with exam to exam. For example, when one person get most number of easy questions, another person in the same hall can get moderate and difficult questions more than easy questions. But as per scaled scoring method, the first person has to answer correctly to more number of questions than the second person has to. The raw score obtained is converted into scaled score based on the form of the exam. Please refer the table below for better understanding.

36. I don’t have prior supply chain experience. Am I eligible to appear for SCM certification like CSCP?
It is not mandatory that you should have prior supply chain experience. But it is recommended, as the clear understanding of supply knowledge is the only way to clear the CSCP examination.

37. Can I use the 2015 version of CSCP study materials to appear for CSCP exam in 2017?
No. The study material from 2015 has been extensively updated to 2016. You can use 2016 study materials to appear for 2017 but you will not get online practise questions as they are valid only for 12 months from the purchase. It is better to get the 2017 Exam Content Manual and compare the contents with the materials.

38. I have experience in sales and marketing. Am I eligible to appear for CSCP?
If it is directly related to supply chain, you can look out for CSCP but it is not mandatory.