Complete APICS CSCP Practice Exam Questions
with Correct Answers.
Volume growth is a key performance indicator for which of the following? - Correct
answer-Product merchandizing
Volume growth measures the success of merchandizing efforts.
Cycle counting is usually paired with which of the following to minimize the total cost of
inventory shrinkage? - Correct answer-ABC inventory classification
Inventory shrinkage is "losses of inventory resulting from scrap, deterioration, pilferage,
and so forth" (APICS Dictionary, 16th edition). ABC inventory classification groups
inventory into categories of relative value, and when paired with cycle counting, can be
used to count A items more frequently, thus reducing the likelihood of shrinkage for the
most valuable inventory.
A salesperson makes a delivery promise that is prior to the customer's delivery request
date because this customer is in the most valuable customer segment. If the order arrives
instead at the delivery request date, the customer will most likely be: - Correct answer-
dissatisfied due to heightened customer expectations.
Customers have expectations about supplier availability, performance, and service
reliability. Organizations can go a long way toward customer satisfaction by setting
realistic expectations with their customers. One phrase that sums this up is to under-
promise and over-deliver.
A chain of grocery stores has implemented a customer loyalty program that includes
sending customers coupons four times per year. The coupons are for items each
customer has frequently purchased in the past but has not purchased in the past three
months. This program would typically be considered an element of: - Correct answer-
customer relationship management.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is about nurturing mutually beneficial, long-
term relationships intimate enough to provide tailored solutions to meet mutual needs.
CRM programs focus more on the customer, while sales force automation is more
centered on those tools used by salespeople.
,An organization automatically detects when a frequent purchaser calls. The customer is
not placed on hold and is offered a purchase upgrade discount. Which type of customer
segmentation is this organization using? - Correct answer-Segmentation by value
Today more and more organizations are treating customers differently based on the
differences in the customers' contributions to the bottom line. Segmentation by value
shows a customer-driven business which groups are most profitable to them so they can
focus marketing efforts on those customers.
Which is a reverse logistics best practice for an organization that places a strategic priority
on efficient, cost-effective returns processing and has the infrastructure to do this at high
levels of customer satisfaction? - Correct answer-Retain the functions, but restrict returns
processing to selected facilities.
While reverse logistics is not a core competency for most organizations, this organization
appears to have it as a core competency and a strategic priority. Therefore, it should
retain these functions in house. The products in the reverse chain won't necessarily move
through the same nodes as products in the forward chain because fewer, and different,
warehouses, may be required.
A manufacturer creates a new supply plan that is aligned with the corporate strategy,
mission, and culture. The manufacturer makes decisions on using centralized vs.
autonomous sourcing and plans for future growth. However, soon after the plan is
implemented, unforeseen issues begin causing stockouts of crucial supplies, disrupting
the manufacturing process and causing massive losses. What is the likely cause of this
failure? - Correct answer-Failure to conduct a risk assessment
The unforeseen issues would likely have been identified and accounted for had the
organization conducted a risk assessment. The risks of a supply plan must be spelled out
for decision makers at a high level, including an assessment of the likelihood of each risk,
its impact if it occurs, and possible means and costs involved in mitigating the risk.
Process change risks should be called out. Contingency plans should be included.
Which of the following tasks is most likely to be performed by a purchasing agent/planner
rather than a purchasing manager? - Correct answer-Resolving discrepancies in orders or
accounts
Purchasing managers focus on strategic tasks such as supplier selection, contract
negotiation, and analysis and evaluation of the supply system. Purchasing agents or
,planners focus on placing orders, following up with suppliers as needed, monitoring
supply needs, and measuring supplier performance.
If you are the supply chain manager, where should you be looking in the supply chain in
order to get the best view of potential changes to the market? - Correct answer-At the next
stop downstream in the chain and at the consumer end
Watch trends in demand at the consumer end of the chain, not just at the next stop
downstream. Visibility to the end of the chain can speed up response to changes in the
market.
The schedule will not allow exhaustive analysis of all the scenarios that the team knows
are causing a system to crash, but they need to correct the majority of the issues. What
quality tool would best help them focus their resources? - Correct answer-Pareto diagram
A Pareto diagram visualizes the causes that contribute to 80% of the effects (or system
crashes).
What technologies form the foundation of an intelligent supply chain because one
provides input data at a much finer grained level of detail than otherwise possible and the
other enables each object providing that data to have a "digital twin?" - Correct answer-
Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent asset management (IAM)
IoT devices enable networking on non-computer devices using internet communications.
This technology provides input data at a much finer grained level of detail than otherwise
possible. IAM creates a digital version or "digital twin" of an industrial asset so the asset's
performance and maintenance status can be updated. While blockchain is an enabling
technology for an intelligent supply chain, it fulfills different functions than those described
in the question.
The voluntary initiative for companies to embrace, support, and enact a set of core values
in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anticorruption is the: -
Correct answer-United Nations Global Compact.
The UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to
aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the
areas of human rights,labor, the environment,and anticorruption.
, Which of the following describes commercial bribes? - Correct answer-They may be a
payoff to cover up inferior products.
Commercial bribes are usually aimed at covering up for an inferior product or obtaining
new business or proprietary information. They can also involve industrial espionage,
where sensitive information is stolen or kickbacks or payoffs are made for trade secrets or
price schedules.
A toy manufacturer wants to use an auction to procure a large shipment of common
screws at the lowest possible cost. Which type of auction should the manufacturer use? -
Correct answer-Reverse auction
Reverse auctions are internet auctions in which suppliers attempt to underbid their
competitors; company identities are known only by the buyer. The manufacturer could
draw multiple bids for the screws and drive the suppliers to lower their prices to the lowest
level possible, saving the manufacturer money.
A supply chain manager's superior asks her to draw up a project charter and be the project
manager on a project to continually improve inventory levels by conducting ongoing
audits. What should be clarified first? - Correct answer-What will the end date for this
project be?
A project is a temporary endeavor with a clear end date in mind. What is being described
is actually part of supply chain operations rather than a project. A few changes, such as an
end date and some measurable objectives, could turn this into a project.
Using primarily a pull system in the distribution network offers which of the following
benefits to the supply chain as a whole? - Correct answer-Sensitivity to demands of the
final customer
The main benefit of the pull system of distribution is sensitivity to local customer demand,
since orders begin near the customer and "pull" products from upstream. This approach
does not facilitate communication, eliminate safety stock, or improve visibility down the
chain because there is no central coordination and upstream partners have to depend
upon forecasting to plan for future orders rather than upon (for example) a predetermined
production schedule.
Inside a demand time fence, can customer orders still be promised without needing higher
authority approval? - Correct answer-Only when available-to-promise quantities exist
with Correct Answers.
Volume growth is a key performance indicator for which of the following? - Correct
answer-Product merchandizing
Volume growth measures the success of merchandizing efforts.
Cycle counting is usually paired with which of the following to minimize the total cost of
inventory shrinkage? - Correct answer-ABC inventory classification
Inventory shrinkage is "losses of inventory resulting from scrap, deterioration, pilferage,
and so forth" (APICS Dictionary, 16th edition). ABC inventory classification groups
inventory into categories of relative value, and when paired with cycle counting, can be
used to count A items more frequently, thus reducing the likelihood of shrinkage for the
most valuable inventory.
A salesperson makes a delivery promise that is prior to the customer's delivery request
date because this customer is in the most valuable customer segment. If the order arrives
instead at the delivery request date, the customer will most likely be: - Correct answer-
dissatisfied due to heightened customer expectations.
Customers have expectations about supplier availability, performance, and service
reliability. Organizations can go a long way toward customer satisfaction by setting
realistic expectations with their customers. One phrase that sums this up is to under-
promise and over-deliver.
A chain of grocery stores has implemented a customer loyalty program that includes
sending customers coupons four times per year. The coupons are for items each
customer has frequently purchased in the past but has not purchased in the past three
months. This program would typically be considered an element of: - Correct answer-
customer relationship management.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is about nurturing mutually beneficial, long-
term relationships intimate enough to provide tailored solutions to meet mutual needs.
CRM programs focus more on the customer, while sales force automation is more
centered on those tools used by salespeople.
,An organization automatically detects when a frequent purchaser calls. The customer is
not placed on hold and is offered a purchase upgrade discount. Which type of customer
segmentation is this organization using? - Correct answer-Segmentation by value
Today more and more organizations are treating customers differently based on the
differences in the customers' contributions to the bottom line. Segmentation by value
shows a customer-driven business which groups are most profitable to them so they can
focus marketing efforts on those customers.
Which is a reverse logistics best practice for an organization that places a strategic priority
on efficient, cost-effective returns processing and has the infrastructure to do this at high
levels of customer satisfaction? - Correct answer-Retain the functions, but restrict returns
processing to selected facilities.
While reverse logistics is not a core competency for most organizations, this organization
appears to have it as a core competency and a strategic priority. Therefore, it should
retain these functions in house. The products in the reverse chain won't necessarily move
through the same nodes as products in the forward chain because fewer, and different,
warehouses, may be required.
A manufacturer creates a new supply plan that is aligned with the corporate strategy,
mission, and culture. The manufacturer makes decisions on using centralized vs.
autonomous sourcing and plans for future growth. However, soon after the plan is
implemented, unforeseen issues begin causing stockouts of crucial supplies, disrupting
the manufacturing process and causing massive losses. What is the likely cause of this
failure? - Correct answer-Failure to conduct a risk assessment
The unforeseen issues would likely have been identified and accounted for had the
organization conducted a risk assessment. The risks of a supply plan must be spelled out
for decision makers at a high level, including an assessment of the likelihood of each risk,
its impact if it occurs, and possible means and costs involved in mitigating the risk.
Process change risks should be called out. Contingency plans should be included.
Which of the following tasks is most likely to be performed by a purchasing agent/planner
rather than a purchasing manager? - Correct answer-Resolving discrepancies in orders or
accounts
Purchasing managers focus on strategic tasks such as supplier selection, contract
negotiation, and analysis and evaluation of the supply system. Purchasing agents or
,planners focus on placing orders, following up with suppliers as needed, monitoring
supply needs, and measuring supplier performance.
If you are the supply chain manager, where should you be looking in the supply chain in
order to get the best view of potential changes to the market? - Correct answer-At the next
stop downstream in the chain and at the consumer end
Watch trends in demand at the consumer end of the chain, not just at the next stop
downstream. Visibility to the end of the chain can speed up response to changes in the
market.
The schedule will not allow exhaustive analysis of all the scenarios that the team knows
are causing a system to crash, but they need to correct the majority of the issues. What
quality tool would best help them focus their resources? - Correct answer-Pareto diagram
A Pareto diagram visualizes the causes that contribute to 80% of the effects (or system
crashes).
What technologies form the foundation of an intelligent supply chain because one
provides input data at a much finer grained level of detail than otherwise possible and the
other enables each object providing that data to have a "digital twin?" - Correct answer-
Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent asset management (IAM)
IoT devices enable networking on non-computer devices using internet communications.
This technology provides input data at a much finer grained level of detail than otherwise
possible. IAM creates a digital version or "digital twin" of an industrial asset so the asset's
performance and maintenance status can be updated. While blockchain is an enabling
technology for an intelligent supply chain, it fulfills different functions than those described
in the question.
The voluntary initiative for companies to embrace, support, and enact a set of core values
in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anticorruption is the: -
Correct answer-United Nations Global Compact.
The UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to
aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the
areas of human rights,labor, the environment,and anticorruption.
, Which of the following describes commercial bribes? - Correct answer-They may be a
payoff to cover up inferior products.
Commercial bribes are usually aimed at covering up for an inferior product or obtaining
new business or proprietary information. They can also involve industrial espionage,
where sensitive information is stolen or kickbacks or payoffs are made for trade secrets or
price schedules.
A toy manufacturer wants to use an auction to procure a large shipment of common
screws at the lowest possible cost. Which type of auction should the manufacturer use? -
Correct answer-Reverse auction
Reverse auctions are internet auctions in which suppliers attempt to underbid their
competitors; company identities are known only by the buyer. The manufacturer could
draw multiple bids for the screws and drive the suppliers to lower their prices to the lowest
level possible, saving the manufacturer money.
A supply chain manager's superior asks her to draw up a project charter and be the project
manager on a project to continually improve inventory levels by conducting ongoing
audits. What should be clarified first? - Correct answer-What will the end date for this
project be?
A project is a temporary endeavor with a clear end date in mind. What is being described
is actually part of supply chain operations rather than a project. A few changes, such as an
end date and some measurable objectives, could turn this into a project.
Using primarily a pull system in the distribution network offers which of the following
benefits to the supply chain as a whole? - Correct answer-Sensitivity to demands of the
final customer
The main benefit of the pull system of distribution is sensitivity to local customer demand,
since orders begin near the customer and "pull" products from upstream. This approach
does not facilitate communication, eliminate safety stock, or improve visibility down the
chain because there is no central coordination and upstream partners have to depend
upon forecasting to plan for future orders rather than upon (for example) a predetermined
production schedule.
Inside a demand time fence, can customer orders still be promised without needing higher
authority approval? - Correct answer-Only when available-to-promise quantities exist
