The Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) certification is essential for professionals involved in: - Production and inventory management - Operations - Supply chain management - Procurement - Materials management - Purchasing Candidates must pass all five exams for the following modules in order to earn the CPIM designation: - Basics of Supply Chain Management BSCM - Master Planning of Resources MPR - Detailed Scheduling and Planning DSP - Execution and Control of Operations ECO - Strategic Management of Resources SMR SMR is the final module to take. Is it tough? Well, in a sense, yes. It is tough because there is no fixed answer to the test questions. You are asked to choose the best possible answer among all potentially OK answers. Also, most questions are long and with complicated scenarios to confuse you. To pick up the “politically correct” answers you have to use your business sense to make judgment on a case by case basis. I would say SMR is an advanced scenario-format BSCM. SMR is all about supply-side management at a higher global and strategic level. What is serious supply management all about? Accenture has developed seven principles of supply-chain management: 1. Segment customers based on their service needs. 2. Design the logistics network based on service requirements. 3. Listen to the signals of market demand and plan accordingly. 4. Differentiate products based on actual consumer demand. 5. Strategically manage the sources of supply. 6. Develop a supply-chain-wide technology strategy. 7. Adopt measures that apply to every link in the supply chain. Because of advances in manufacturing and distribution, the cost of developing new products and services is dropping, and time to market is speeding up. This has resulted in increasing customer demands, local and global competition, and increased pressure on the supply chain. To stay competitive, companies must reinvent themselves so that the supply chain—sourcing and procurement, production scheduling, order fulfillment, inventory management, and customer care—is no longer a cost-based back-office exercise, but rather a flexible operation designed to effectively address today's challenges. If you have been specializing in manufacturing or shop floor functions, it is now the time to move yourself to a managerial position – you need to see things from a broader MBA style perspective. To succeed in the SMR exam, you need to get yourself truly familiar with the most important information by going through sufficiently focused revision. This is where we fill the gap - you may think of our product as the unofficial supplement to the regular training class, or you may view it as a standalone module with a focus on building up your exam readiness. As an effective learning aid implemented in the format of study notes, the ExamFOCUS Study Notes package is designed to present information in an easy-to-understand, conversational format. Notes are well-written, technically accurate and completely representative of the key information covered by the exam.