As president of the NAPM-MD, I have had the privilege of attending the ISM national meeting in St. Louis.  One of the seminars I attended was about the CPSM designation.  Below are notes I took at that seminar and I am sharing them with the NAPM-MD membership..

But I also felt this is a good opportunity to share with the NAPM-MD membership steps the Board is taking to help our members prepare for this important transition to CPSM.  The Board has addressed this transition to CPSM in the following manner: 

1. Our C.P.M. trainer, Brian Rohrkemper, C.P.M., has indicated that he would train NAPM-MD members on the CPSM materials
2. Brian attended CPSM “train the trainer” sessions during the first week of May 2008
3. During the first quarter 2008, Brian began the process of personally studying and taking the three CPSM module tests
4. Very soon, the NAPM-MD will announce study sessions for both the three CPSM tests and the one CPSM bridge exam
5. If there is additional interest in holding review classes for C.P.M. certification, the Board will consider this.  Please contact Sue Peters if you are interested C.P.M. review courses.  Sue can be reached at (313) 881-0800

Date	Seminar Name	Presenters
05/04/08	Update on the “Certified Professional in Supply Management” professional designation.	Karen Collins, C.P.M., A.P.P. & Christina Foster, SPHR (each representing the ISM)
CPSM ·   Components of certification / knowledge in the CPSM exam include areas not included in the C.P.M. certification process.   These are areas of expertise that Procurement uses today but not necessarily were attributes of the profession when C.P.M. was designed.  These areas of CPSM testing include: (i) quality; (ii) inventory; (iii) transportation; (iv) warehousing; (v) distribution; (vi) strategic sourcing, (vii) risk and compliance, and; (viii) product / service development.  These subject areas are not inclusive but some of the topics covered CPSM Requirements:     ·   Three years experience as a supply management professional (not clerical or support functions) ·   Bachelor’s degree ·   Successfully pass the testing requirements:  (i) pass all three CPSM test modules, or; (ii) if you hold an active C.P.M. designation, pass the one CPSM bridge exam ·   Complete the CPSM application process Other CPSM knowledge nuggets:     ·   Education beyond a Bachelor’s degree does not reduce the experience or testing requirements ·   No grandfathering from C.P.M. to CPSM.   You must follow the CPSM requirements ·   The three CPSM exams consist of 510 questions and 465 are scored ·   The one CPSM bridge exam consists of 180 questions and all are scored ·   If you do not currently have a bachelor’s degree but you hold a C.P.M. designation and you plan on getting a Bachelor’s degree to qualify for a CPSM, remember that many universities offer up to 12 hours credit for C.P.M. certification CPSM Bridge Exam Testing:     ·   Available until 12/31/13 ·   You must be a current C.P.M. holder when you take the Bridge exam ·   You must be a current C.P.M. holder when you apply for the CPSM designation CPSM Study Materials Available:     ·   CPSM Study Guide ·   ISM professional series books (set of three books / one book per module) ·   CPSM supplemental reading materials (on ISM.ws website) ·   CPSM diagnostic kit (tentatively available in 2009) ·   “Supply Management Handbook” & “ISM Glossary of Key Supply Management Terms” are good additional reference materials Testing Sites:     ·   For the three CPSM modules and the Bridge exam:  Pearson VUE testing centers (June ’08) ·   For C.P.M. testing:  Prometrix (sp?)testing centers NEW C.P.M. designation phase-out information:     ·   Candidates need to register for the C.P.M. exams by 12/31/08.  Then, the ISM is allowing one year (by 12/31/09) to pass the C.P.M. exams ·   12/31/13 is the last date for C.P.M. original or original lifetime certification applications

Disclaimer:  These notes are what I felt were important points of the CPSM / C.P.M. certification issues as discussed at the seminar.  These notes do not replace the source of truth for all things CPSM / C.P.M. – the ISM website.  The most current information on these certification issues may be found at this address:  http://www.ism.ws/certification/ .