In today’s competitive workplace staying educated is one of the most important ways to improve job security.  Several ways to stay educated include traditional degree programs, on-line degree programs, and certifications.  Depending on your time availability, each one of these programs has specific advantages and can help you gain the job security needed.  Recently, I took and passed the Advancing Productivity, Innovation, and Competitive Success (APICS) Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) exam and passed. One of the biggest benefits of earning a certification is the amount of time it takes to get it.  Most certifications can be obtained in less than 3 to 6 months and if you have experience in the area of the certification you are trying to obtain the time can typically be decreased to less than a week.  For example, Cheetah Learning  offers an accelerated prep course, under a week, for taking the Project Management Institute  (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

What is APICS

APICS: “the Association for Operations Management is the global leader and premier source of the body of knowledge in operations management, including production, inventory, supply chain, materials management, purchasing, and logistics. Since 1957, individuals and companies have relied on APICS for its superior training, internationally recognized certifications, comprehensive resources, and worldwide network of accomplished industry professionals” (APICS.org).

What is CSCP

“The APICS CSCP brings your company’s entire value chain into perspective. By giving you a truly end-to-end view of the supply chain, you become the expert, not just within your organization’s walls—you become the global expert. From manufacturing to service, in business and consumer markets, the increasingly important role of effective supply chain management affects all organizations. Customer expectations are high—with the APICS CSCP, you can ensure that your company not only meets, but exceeds them” (APICS.org).

How to Qualify to Take the Exam

To qualify for the exam you need to meet one of the three criteria.  You need to have the CPIM, CFPIM, CIRM, or C.P.M. designation plus two years of related business experience, a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent plus two years of related business experience, or Five years of related business experience.

How to Study for the CSCP Exam

There are several ways to study for the CSCP exam.  The first way is to have your corporation pay for an instructor to teach a group of employees. Doing so will allow the employees to save money on training cost because the company can save money through group discounts.  Second, is to attend an instructor-lead course at your local training facility. Visit APICS CSCP for a course nearest you.  The last is study at your pace format.  I decided to go with the combination of an instructor lead course alongside a self-directed format. The instructor lead course was one day a week for 14 weeks for 3 hours each day.  What was nice about taking the instructor lead class is that it allowed for questions and feedback.  This is particularly important for those who have been in the industry for an extended period of time.  APICS teaches what APICS believes to be the best practices for the industry.  Those who have been in the industry for a longer period of time may believe or have been taught differently than what APICS believes to be the best business practices.  It does not mean that one side is correct.  The important item to remember is that you are trying to get an APICS certification and that is what you will be tested on.  Taking an instructor lead course will help clear up any confusion. One of the best study aids I can recommend is the APICS Learning System.  The APICS CSCP Learning System divides the material into the four main areas with hundreds of test questions for each section.  The Learning System will start you off with a pre-test to see what areas are your strong and weak points.  Then you can concentrate on those areas with questions in each of the areas that you choose.  When you are finished taking those individualized sections then you can take a post test to see if you have improved.  These tests can be taken as many times as the user likes with each test different than the last. Other features of the Learning System include printable or on-line flash cards, a how to for getting ready to take the CSCP test, and updates from previous years learning material.  If you received older material or you took the test and failed and decided to take the test in the next calendar year, it would be in your best interest to read the updated material from the Learning System.

APICS CSCP Tests

There are two types of APICS CSCP tests.  The first is the pencil and paper test and the second is the Computer Based Test (CBT).  I have taken them both and prefer the CBT.  With the advancements in technology it is easy to believe the pencil and paper test will not exist in the future, but I am not certain when.  I found the questions from pencil and paper test to be more general than the CBT.  The questions also seemed to take longer to read through.  What I did like about the pencil and paper test is that it was easier to refer back to questions I was not sure about, as well as, using previous questions on the test to help determine answers to other questions later on. The CBT seemed to have more questions that were less general.  The questions seemed to take less time and even short in text.  I also like that it had questions that were pictorial.  The CBT allowed you to mark questions that you wanted to go back to, but it was hard to navigate through previous questions to help solve other questions on the exam.  One thing I found stressful, that I did not expect while taking the CBT, is the closer I got to the end of the exam the more anxious I became. This anxiety was based on the knowlege that the CBT would provide an instant result of pass or fail where the written exam takes up to 6 weeks later for results to be mailed.

APICS CSCP Test Structure

There are 175 questions from the CSCP four modules on the CSCP test.  Twenty five of those questions will be taken out of the exam when completed.  The twenty five questions are considered new or experimental questions.  The 150 question remaining will be 30% from Module 1: Supply Chain Management Fundamentals, 20% from Module 2: Building Competitive Operations, Planning, and Logistics, 30% from Module 3: Managing Customer and Supplier Relationships, and 20% from Module 4: Using Information Technology to Enable Supply Chain Management.  I found module 1 and 3 to be the easiest, however please do not underestimate module 2 and 4.  When I took the exam the first time I mainly studied module 1 and 3 and did very well in those sections, but my low scores from modules 2 and 4 brought my overall average down.  When studying for the second test I concentrated more on module 2 and 4 and passed with a higher score than before.

CSCP Test Eligibility and Registration

There are two important things to do before taking the exam.  First, you need to submit the eligibility application.  Once you receive an approval for eligibility then you can register for the exam. Test fees will differ depending on your situation and may change over the next few years.

APICS Members $575 (US)
Nonmembers $725 (US)
Retake Fee $350 (US)

I hope this information helps you to consider and/or take and pass the APICS CSCP exam.  There are a lot of recourses and opinions of how to take and pass this exam.  Please do what works best for you and if you have any additional tips or questions please feel free to ask and share on this post. If you are still unsure a certification program is right for you there are plenty of other opportunities.