Designation Details
The APICS CSCP designation is an advanced APICS designation for experienced operations management professionals. In order to earn the APICS CSCP, qualified individuals must:
- Apply for APICS CPIM Eligibility
- Pass a Proctored CSCP Exam, Composed of Three Modules:
- APICS Supply Chain Management Fundamentals
- Supply Chain Strategy, Design, and Compliance
- Implementation and Operations
The exam costs $630 for APICS members or $795 for nonmembers. The test can be retaken for $385.
Candidate Qualifications
The APICS CSCP designation is ideal for experienced professionals who would like to take their CPIM designation to the next level. Candidates who would like to sit for the CSCP exam must meet one of the following requirements to receive eligibility approval:
- The APICS CPIM, CFPIM, or CIRM; or C.P.M., CSM, or CPSM designations plus two years of related business experience, or
- Hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent plus two years of related business experience, or
- Have five years of related business experience
Real-Life Exam Experiences
Professionals who have taken APICS CSCP exam are often happy to provide advice for others who are studying for their CSCP exam.
Individuals on Toolbox.com noted some discrepancies between some of the study materials and the actual CSCP exam.
Here is what Suneet G. has to say:
“APICS learning system’s printed material is not enough for passing the CSCP exam. You need to have a very detailed functional knowledge about each aspect of SCM. APICS specifies some books which are excellent from the
theoritical angle, but functional expertise will come only when you pass through the SCM cycles with your own hands. You can subscribe to the APICS bi-monthly magazine which gives you lots of inputs on the subject.”
Bill C. mentions the time commitment:
“Most folks that I know have spent a good 150 to 200 hours minimum studying the APICS BOK as defined in the 4 participants guides, reviewed the key terms several times, and read at least one additional book on the APICS CSCP BOK and even then, only 70% or so of them pass on the first try.”
One of the test writers, Mark V., chimes in with the following:
“I was on the committee that wrote the CSCP exam questions and can provide a bit of insight for taking the test. The bibliography in the exam content manual lists all of the sources used to develop the BOK, and was used to write the exam questions. All questions were designed with a stem and four multiple choice answers that appear valid with only one of them being the correct answer.
“The intent was to offer an exam that did not challenge the participant to understand the question. Therefore, no questions were allowed that used phases like “least likely, most likely, all of the above except, or true/false “. Everyone on the committee was given eight hours of training by ACT in how to write good quality exam questions, and all questions were pegged to and reviewed against the reference material content for accuracy as well as continuity.
“I tell all of my students that we wrote the questions before the first release of the CSCP courseware, so there is a chance that a question could spring up, and one did on the first exam, that goes a bit beyond what is in the content. However, these kind of questions will be the ones that see a stronger fail rate, and over time should be weeded out. I doubt that there are enough of them to make a large difference in pass/fail scoring. As we know, the exam has been revised more than once already.
“Most of the students I have had passed the exam on the first attempt just by using the online component (which does contain questions that are not multiple choice) and the 4 module participant guides.”
There are several social media links on the APICS exam resources page of this site (click here) where you can connect personally with people who have passed the CSCP exam.
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