CPIM Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CPIM exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CPIM Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CPIM Topics to Study (27)
✍️ Sample CPIM Questions & Answers
1. In MRP, what is a 'planned order release' (POR)?
A planned order release is a system-generated recommendation that must be reviewed and approved by a planner before becoming a firm order.
2. Which technique helps reduce effective lead time by releasing overlapping operations to the shop floor simultaneously?
Operation overlapping starts a downstream operation before the upstream operation is fully complete, compressing the total elapsed time for the job.
3. A key performance indicator (KPI) for a responsive supply chain strategy is most likely to be:
A responsive supply chain strategy prioritizes reacting quickly and efficiently to customer demand. Order fulfillment lead time, which measures the time from order placement to delivery, is a direct measure of this responsiveness. While other metrics are important, they are more central to other strategies (e.g., total landed cost for an efficient chain).
4. Which of the following best describes the primary objective of a Six Sigma quality improvement initiative?
The core focus of Six Sigma is to reduce process variation, which is the root cause of most defects. By using statistical methods (like DMAIC), it aims to achieve a process that produces no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).
5. In the context of total inventory costs, which of the following would be considered an ordering cost?
Ordering costs are the expenses incurred each time an order is placed, regardless of the quantity ordered. This includes fixed administrative and clerical costs associated with creating and processing a purchase order. Costs like insurance, capital, and spoilage are considered carrying or holding costs, as they are related to the quantity of inventory being stored over time.
6. Which component is NOT typically part of demand?
Demand typically comprises several components, including trend (long-term increase or decrease), seasonality (regular patterns tied to time of year), cyclicality (longer-term, irregular patterns related to economic cycles), and randomness (unpredictable fluctuations). Stability, while a desirable characteristic for demand, is not a *component* of demand itself; rather, it describes the absence of significant variation in these components.