2023-12 – My 2023 ended with a prestigious and challenging achievement that I had desired for a long time: I earned the APICS CPIM (Certified in Planning and Inventory Management) certification, with a score of 88.3%.
I reached this goal right at the end of the year: 2023 was full of satisfaction and achievements, and this opens up many future plans. I will tell you about them below.
I began my training with APICS immediately after choosing to become a freelancer, back in 2016. Since then, I had felt that something was unfinished, like a broken thread, a story I wanted to end. I am referring to the APICS CPIM certification (Certified in Planning and Inventory Management), which at the time consisted of two separate courses, and two exams. The first course was a “light” certification in itself, the so-called “Basics of Supply Chain Management”. However, further studies and business growth had always prevented me from completing part two.
As I wrote here, I decided at the beginning of this year that 2023 would be the right one, and so it was! The certification covers fundamental and wide-ranging topics in the context of supply chain and operations management: supply chain strategy, the sales and operations planning process, demand vs. supply planning and balancing, MRP and production scheduling, purchasing and supplier management, distribution, quality and continuous improvement, as well as new technologies. This certification offered me the opportunity to refresh and deepen my knowledge, and allowed me to present myself to customers and companies with additional expertise. There is also a symbolic and significant aspect: for several years, my badge at the ASCM Annual Conference had not had any new tags (you can see me here in Chicago in 2022, with the CEO of APICS). So it will be a great satisfaction in September in Austin, to bulk it up and lengthen the list!
All this happened while my business was running at full speed, unlike in the early years. It was quite challenging to fit my studies into my spare time, evenings, and weekends. However, it is important to highlight how great the rewards have been: I took on a new role as temporary manager in a major multinational company; I continued to support companies with management and operational consulting; I helped others obtain the ISO certification; I conducted training courses. It has been another record year in terms of effort and turnover, continuing the steady growth trend since the post-COVID recovery, so, I guess, well done!
Should I stop here and feel satisfied? Absolutely not! Great projects are already on the horizon for the year ahead, with new companies and roles waiting for me, and I am hopeful and confident that I will be able to make a significant contribution. For me, I have to say, it will be the case anyway, since I perceive every day as an opportunity for professional and personal growth.
Moreover, the project of becoming an APICS instructor has been winking at me for some time, quietly but never out of sight… Could it be the time to follow up on that wink? Stay tuned!