To thrive in 21st century, companies will have to nurture leaders who are able to manage change within a global context, integrate resources throughout the supply chain, understand the implications of all decisions and contribute to the operating performance of their organizations. Companies are facing increased competition and escalating customer demands, while, at the same time, they must adjust to an onslaught of new technologies, rapidly changing business conditions and a virtual explosion of information and new issues.
The successful organizations of the 21st century will be value-driven world leaders, making effective use of people and technology. These successful organizations, whether business, government, professional, or non-profit, will .only be as good as their leadership. Just as organizations must change to meet the challenges of the 21st Century, new leaders must emerge to run them. These new leaders must be goal-oriented and capable of conceptualizing and developing their organizations in pursuit of these goals. They must understand all aspects of the organizations they manage.
Helping managers attain this new level of leadership is where professional societies like APICS (USA) are playing an increasingly important role. For example, APICS certification helps individuals and their companies face the new facts of life in the workplace.
The APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) and CIRM (Certified in Integrated Resource management) programs help address these new demands of the workplace. These programs continue to evolve over time as the workplace environment changes.
APICS Certification Programs
Certification is one of many educational offerings provided by APICS – The Association for Operations Management. Since 1957, APICS has been a source of knowledge and expertise for more than 80,000 professional members representing 20,000 diverse companies worldwide. APICS first entered the international arena in 1963. Today APICS is represented in more than 30 countries worldwide.
What is CPIM?
The Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) program is just the strategic advantage you need in today’s world, where the rate of organizational and technological change is accelerating exponentially. Just as successful companies have adapted to the changing business environment, the CPIM program has changed over the years to keep up with current knowledge and practices. CPIM consists of five modules: Basics of Supply Chain Management, Master Planning of Resources, Detailed Scheduling and Planning, Execution and Control of Operations, and Strategic Management of Resources. An individual must pass all five modules to become certified.
Who can do CPIM?
People, who are working in manufacturing and carrying responsibility like inventory control, distribution and production control, are the ideal candidates for CPIM. It will help them in becoming expert in their field. They will understand the subject with depth. It will also help them to maximize their potential and ultimately results in getting competitive edge over others.
Benefits of CPIM
Participation in the program will help individuals achieve recognition for their experience, as well as provide them a way to continuously acquire the education critical to staying competitive in today’s employment market. CPIM provides a common basis for individuals to assess their knowledge in the evolving field of materials management. APICS certification has become recognized around the world as a standard of professional competence in the Supply Chain Management (SCM).
Certification enables individuals to gain the technical and functional know-how, plus the confidence, to enhance their job performance and their strategic advantage. Individuals join more than 61,000 professionals who have earned the prestigious CPIM designation, and enjoy the benefits they have derived from their achievements, including
• Increased technical and functional knowledge
• Widespread recognition of professional competence
• Enhanced credibility with both employers and customers
• Demonstrated levels of professional expertise and skill
• Evident commitment to professional growth and development.
New skills and abilities that individuals acquire during the certification process will improve their on-the-job-performance. They will be able to understand how to
• Increase profitability by optimizing inventory investment
• Satisfy customers by delivering products and services Just-in-Time
• Streamline operations by accurately forecasting to meet master plan
• Increase productivity by using material requirements planning and capacity planning to consistently meet long-, medium-, and short-range goals
• Improve customer service by understanding and managing all aspects of the supply chain Management
• Gain a competitive advantage by maximizing systems and technologies.
What is CIRM?
The need for an integrated approach to managing business has rapidly expanded, including partnerships with customers and suppliers, understanding global operations, managing diverse internal and external resources and managing change. APICS has given a name to this new concept of the integrated management of organizations—Integrated Resource Management (IRM). It is an emerging field of study emphasizing a total system perspective, encompassing both the product and process cycles and focusing on the integration of organizational resources toward the effective realization of organizational goals. This requires people capable of working as team members, as well as leaders, and understanding all the disciplines in an enterprise.
CIRM (Certified in Integrated Resource Management) is designed to expand the horizons of those individuals, not only in materials management, but also in other functions in many manufacturing and service industries—providing an opportunity for people throughout the organization to learn and understand the interaction and integration of multiple enterprise functions. CIRM consists of five modules: Enterprise Concepts and Fundamentals (EC&F), Identifying and Creating Demand (I&CD), Designing Products and Processes (DP&P), Delivering Products and Services (DP&S), and Integrated Enterprise Management (IEM).
CIRM is designed to bring company management into the 21st century by developing business leaders who:
• Look at an organization from a global view
• Provide effective organizational leadership
• Integrate all the necessary resources to achieve the organizational goals
• Understand the implications of all potential decisions
• Successfully identify, initiate and create change within organizations
• Contribute directly to the improved operating performance of their organizations
The value of CIRM goes beyond certification. Not only is CIRM playing an increasingly important role in individual career paths, it also plays role of:
• A hiring differentiator for present and future employers; the phrase “CIRM preferred” will appear more frequently in job listings
• An important method of demonstrating a commitment to lifelong learning which is increasingly important to the companies now a days.
• A vehicle to view the organization from a global perspective
• The only standard and internationally recognized program in Integrated Resource Management
CIRM is becoming invaluable to the organization worldwide. Companies can use CIRM as a vehicle to develop future leaders, as well as a standardized, integrated management approach and a method of improved teamwork decision-making. In addition, CIRM will help companies strengthen operational performance, improve leadership capability and reduce personnel constraints. Thus, CIRM certification—is perhaps the most important vehicle, a forward-thinking company or an organization can use in preparing for the 21 st century. CIRM will continue to serve as a company’s partner in the journey into the 21st century by offering individual development and team-building education. As such, CIRM paves the way for an organization to become a truly value-driven enterprise in today’s world and in the workplace of tomorrow.
Who can do CIRM?
People who are working in manufacturing, consulting and service industries and carrying responsibility like finance/accounting, sales/marketing, human resources, engineering, consulting and product control. This certificate will help them in getting cross-functional knowledge as well as team based skills.
It will help the candidate to prepare for leadership role in his/her company. Also the candidate will get a strategic perspective on his/her global enterprise environment. It will strengthen his/her ability to manage.