نقش APICS در حرفه ای سازی مدیریت عملیات

The APICS organization is the professional association most closely affiliated with operations management practitioners. The organization is widely known for their Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) program that assesses individual knowledge in the field of production and inventory management. APICS and the CPIM certification have played a major role in elevating the professionalism of individuals who work in operations management. This paper will detail a history of APICS and the CPIM certification and describe the role of academics in the development of the certification.

A history of operations management would not be complete without including a perspective on the practitioner organization most closely aligned with operations professionals. APICS originally known as the American Production and Inventory Control Society has been a source of education and certification for manufacturing practitioners for almost 50 years. In 1973, APICS began offering programs and examinations leading to the Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) qualification, which is widely recognized as the required body of knowledge for many careers in manufacturing management. The organization recently re-branded itself as APICS the Association for Operations Management. This paper will describe APICS’ journey from an early American-centered practitioner group focused on production control to an international organization with multiple certifications focused on the operations field. The role played by academics working with the association will be highlighted. APICS was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1957 by a group of 27 men working in middle management positions in production and inventory control (Plossl, 1985). They were led by Nyles Reinfeld, President of an education and consulting firm, who recognized that inventory and scheduling were not viewed as professional skills. The result of their “continental congress” was the official beginning of APICS in October of that year (APICS, 1998). The objectives of the organization were to develop a body of knowledge on production and inventory control (PIC) and disseminate the principles and techniques of PIC through education of its members and others in the field. The founders hoped to develop an organization that might assist in gaining professional recognition for the field. Individual dues that first year were US $7.50. By 1969, the organization had 47 chapter affiliations covering most major cities in the United States and Canada (Greene, 1970). The early leadership began to focus on providing educational materials to its members. In 1963, the APICS Dictionary and APICS Bibliography were first developed through collaboration between academia, consulting firms, and knowledgeable volunteers. The Dictionary was the first attempt to standardize terms in the production and inventory control field: it is now in its eleventh edition ( APICS, 2005a). A 1975 front-page article in The Wall Street Journal recognized the dictionary as APICS’ “45-page dictionary (used) to keep members abreast of their ‘special’ language” ( Wall Street Journal, 1975). See Appendix A: APICS timeline for further details on the history of the development of the organization.

The APICS CPIM certification is recognized throughout the world and has been used as a model for certification for many other organizations. CPIM continues to be an assessment of candidates’ knowledge in the field of production and inventory management. Since 1973, more than 80,000 individuals have earned the CPIM designation with more than 3000 at the fellow level. Since 1992, more than 4000 have earned the CIRM designation. Today, APICS administers nearly 40,000 exams a year in 30 countries around the world. APICS has 260 chapters in North America and over 40,000 members. APICS has student chapters at 170 Universities and continues to support students entering the operations management field. While many practitioners and academics still refer to APICS as the American Production and Inventory Control Society, the name was officially changed in 2005 to APICS the Association for Operations Management to reflect the International membership and to better define the organization and align it with more commonly used industry terms. CPIM certification continues to find a target audience, as new employees replace managers who move up in the business ranks, or aging production and inventory control managers retire. CIRM certification, targeted at operations managers trying to broaden their skills with more breadth of knowledge across the organization, never achieved the success rate that APICS expected. APICS discontinued promoting the CIRM certification as of May of 2006, while still recognizing its value to those certified and allowing candidates in the certification process to complete their certification. Clearly, APICS has had a large influence on the field of operations management. The certification numbers discussed previously attest to that. The organization has been responsible for the advancement and improvement of operations management practices and has fought hard to increase the visibility and recognition of operations management as a professional field. Academic members played an important role in working with the association to develop certification materials and exams. Their involvement continues to reduce the chasm between APICS practitioners and the academic community.