Do You want to be certified in your profession, Supply Management?

Yes, Of course you do.

You want to be the best of the best in anything you do and your profession is no exception. The Certified Professional in Supply Management is the most prestigious certification offered in the supply chain and procurement industry and becoming certified will tell your boss, your peers, and your team that you are an expert in your field, supply chain management.

Sales and Supply are THE two areas that ensure survival of a company. Sales generate revenue; Supply generates profits. Companies need professionals in these areas who can make a difference TODAY. Our supply chains have the greatest potential to increase profits and quite possibly save your business during these challenging economic times.

Certification Equals Results - The CPSM certification tells the world you are a professional in a core function of every organization. CPSM Certified Professionals earn 23% more than those without the certification.

Immediate Impact - For those who participate in the course, the content will immediately achieve cost savings for your organization because the concepts and techniques provide actionable information to improve your sourcing activities.

All supply chain professionals deserve the opportunity to achieve the CPSM or CSM certification so they can maximize their resume and proclaim they are a Supply Chain Manager Professional!

According to the ISM Newsline, only 3,975 Supply Leaders are certified CPSM. This is just over 10% of the 34,503 ISM members. This means you will have a distinct advantage over your competition, not only because you will be certified, but also because of the leadership, skills, techniques, and strategies you will gain.

Do You want to be certified in your profession, Supply Management?

What is the key to a successful supply chain? --> Information, Information, Information

Information is critical to how we manage our supply chain, from negotiating a contract to managing vendor performance.
We must have good information to make good decisions. In 2009, the Institute of Supply Management stated that a 2.5% reduction in procurement costs produces the same amount of profit as a 10% increase in sales. (With these kinds of results, it is amazing that companies do not invest as much or more in their supply chain and procurement teams.)

If your company has survived and is surviving in the economic turmoil of today, you understand this better than anyone. Circumstances beyond our control affected the sales part of our company, so the next logical area to review and improve was the supply chain to gain maximum cost savings.

Exam #2 of the Certified Professional in Supply Management is focused on Supply Chain Performance. The tasks covered include project management, planning, forecasting, material and inventory management, and organization assessment.

Would you have guessed that Project Management is the task with the most questions on the exam with 19 questions in this area? This area is the last task listed in the CPSM Study Guide, so you may not spend much time on it unless you know better, so take the time to review this area more closely.

As Supply Leaders, we experience sales people everyday who want our companies to purchase their stuff.

The sales people do their homework and many times know more about you and your company than YOU DO. Sales people prepare because their survival (their company's survival) depends upon your decision to buy their stuff.
This is one reason why companies invest significant time and money to train their sales force.

At the same time, YOUR company's profitability and very survival depends on your making decisions about how to spend money and manage resources.

You have to be just as prepared for the sale people as they are prepare to win your business. As Supply Leaders, we make buy decisions. How well we make buy decisions is based on two things -
 
1) A clear requirement from our company &
2) An ability to Negotiate.

Negotiation is one of the main tasks of Exam 1 of the Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) Exams. There are a total of 32 questions on the exam coming from the area of negotiation.
The CPSM Exam was develop based on the expertise of Supply Chain Professionals, so the experts agree this is an important skill for us to master and a key part of the CPSM certification.

How does preparing for the CPSM Exams help our negotiating skills?

Just like champion boxers box everyday and the fastest sprinters sprint everyday; we as Supply Leaders, need to build our negotiating skills everyday.

Supply chain and procurement activities just aren't exciting to investors or news reporters, so the focus in the areas of training and investor reports look at sales, marketing, and operations. That means, we must use lead with influence to gain the confidence of our executives, managers and fellow Supply Leaders.

In order to be effective influencers, we have to gain their confidence. Confidence that we know our business and always act ethically in the best interest of the company.
Leadership allows us, as Supply Leaders, to influence the supply chain vertically and horizontally.

Vertically, we direct people to constantly seek out opportunities for cost savings in the supply chain and influence our superiors to make the correct decisions based on knowledge gained from analytics (discussed in the previous email).

Horizontally, Supply Leaders influence peers and vendors to get the resources we need to make our companies profitable.

Another way to demonstrate your leadership is through achieving the CPSM Certification. The third exam of the CPSM Certification focuses on supply chain leadership and people know this certification means you have the leadership required to be successful.

Exam Tip: Strategic sourcing is one of the areas with the most questions on this exam, so take the time to study this area even though it may be placed at the end of the task list in the CPSM Study Guide.