Certificates

We know it’s tough to find time for professional development, that’s why the certificate courses are online and accessible anytime, anywhere. With 60 days of access to the courses, you have plenty of time to work through the content at a pace that fits your schedule and lifestyle.

ISM is a leader in supply management education and our certificate program builds on our self-paced eLearning courses. Created in collaboration with ISM subject matter experts, these courses give you the most up-to-date and relevant content on your profession.

Once you’ve completed your certificate, it’s time to show off your skills. Earning a certificate demonstrates your commitment to professional growth and will help you stand out in the crowd. Your certificate of completion will be available online for you to download and share any time.

The digital datasphere is growing annually at an exponential rate. Organizations are flooded with more and more data that has little to no meaning to their current business processes. But framed correctly, the data can become knowledge and power to a supply management professional. In this certificate program you will learn to analyze key information to make strategic decisions in areas such as regions to source from, modeling to impact target costs and stakeholder engagement to deliver cohesive solutions. Looking at patterns in overall spends, inventories, markets and supplier financial health will allow supply management professionals to establish successful strategies for both bottom line costs and top line revenues.

In many companies, procurement is mistakenly perceived as a back-room function relegated to processing POs and enforcing terms of contracts that have been negotiated and signed by other operational departments. Business skills are vital to gaining a seat at the table with critical stakeholders and senior management. Being able to clearly define the purpose and objectives of supply management as it aligns to the overall company is vital. This certificate program will provide knowledge and skills on communicating strategic value, engaging stakeholders, project management and considerations implementing automated business processes to help supply management professionals assume the role of strategic enabler for driving success.

Supply management continues to evolve from a tactical focus to a strategic focus. Category and commodity managers are responsible for strategic oversight of supply management business sectors. A broad range of duties fall into category and commodity management such as spend analysis, market analysis to discover shifts or emerging innovations, forecasting the supply chain, and performance management to achieve the business goals. This certificate program will help guide professionals to deliver on stakeholder objectives, adapt strategies to keep pace with shifts in market trends, ensure appropriate resources are available through the entire supply chain and drive continuous improvement. Mastery of category and commodity management helps companies meet goals for cost reduction and revenue generation improvement.

Today's litigious environment can make or break a company based on contractual elements. This certificate program will provide the means to establish and execute contractual agreements for goods, services, or technology to meet the strategic needs of the organization. Factors such as the type of contract, terms and conditions, duration, performance monitoring and options for termination must be considered when selecting a supplier. Supply management professionals will collaborate with the organization's legal and risk management experts to create optimal agreements, including master agreements. Also learn to manage the full life cycle of activities regarding agreements, including full contract management oversight.

Knowing when to focus on cost and when to focus on price will create bandwidth within a supply management professional's workday. Each have a place and time but must be aligned to strategic business needs as identified through supplier segmentation. This certificate program will prepare you to manage the cost elements or price paid to suppliers to meet organizational goals. Learn appropriate strategies such as cost modeling, total cost of ownership, should cost analysis, price indices, volume aggregation, payment term leveraging and specification modifications. These tools can be used in conjunction sourcing strategies, negotiation planning and supplier relationship management. Supply management will impact the both the bottom and top lines.

One of the more under scoped areas of supply management is logistics and materials management. Several variables must be factored such as transportation modality, inventory positioning, warehouse locations and warehouse types. This certificate program will focus on planning, implementing, and controlling the inbound and outbound flow of goods, and the storage, internal movement, and retrieval of goods in an economical, effective, safe, visible, and timely manner between the point of origin and the point of destination. Through such concepts and science, all these factors can be comprehended, and supply management professionals can provide the optimal supply chain solution for an organization bottom line.

Procurement is a strategic role within a company that delivers significant value to business goals and objectives. It has moved beyond just processing the purchase order and following up on delivery dates. It is now a function that includes specifications development, value analysis, supplier market research, negotiation, buying activities, contract administration and inventory control. This certificate program will provide tools to improve procurement knowledge is areas of RFx strategies, cost and price, lifecycle sourcing, win-win negotiation and inventory optimization. Supply management professionals will continue to improve cost reduction and revenue generation within a company.

Strategic sourcing is one of the most important aspects of supply management as internal stakeholders look for value added solutions for products and services. Options continue to expand globally and offer features that can meet or exceed current suppliers. Supply management professionals are tasked with obtaining the best quality, performance, and service at the right price, with the lowest risk in order to achieve organizational objectives as identified through category management principles. This certificate program will provide knowledge for end-to-end sourcing practices including specification development, value analysis, supplier market research, negotiation, and purchasing activities.

During the early years of tactical supply management, supplier relationships generally did not enter into the equation. But as a transformational shift occurred to a strategic nature, organizations realized the increased value that could be achieved through stronger relationships. This Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) certificate will enable you to Identify the type of supplier relationship and proper engagement strategies to drive value through cost reduction, cash flow, supplier performance, and innovation. Relationship focus occurs through the entire product or service lifecycle. Improving trust and partnership will enable a win-win outcome with successful SRM programs. Companies realize lower costs and improved revenues.

As global supply chains become more complex and interdependent, multiple risk factors increase. Organizations can no longer depend on a single risk organization to comprehend the magnitude of such variables. Supply management professionals must comprehend multiple facets of risk management. Through focused efforts in the certificate program, learn to identify, analyze, and assess risk systematically throughout the global supply chain. Solutions will be balanced through impact to the business and the probability of occurrence. A risk management plan can then be submitted seeking a budget to balance the risk within the organization. Alternative solutions can also be worked with suppliers to share ownership for the risk.

Everyday life is filled with negotiation, whether at work or at home. We are exposed to multiple choices while engaging with other people. Therefore, negotiation should be viewed in a systemic interaction to achieve value. Negotiation is the process organizations use to reach an agreement. It consists of planning, preparing, and executing negotiation strategies, while reviewing personal and team negotiation performance. Not all negotiations follow the same process flow and require analysis to determine the best approach. Strategies vary based on the supplier's financial impact and risk associated to the organization. Supply management professionals must influence suppliers, stakeholders and team capabilities and outcomes to arrive at a win-win outcome.

A common problem supply management professionals face is not being able to provide accurate forecasts to suppliers. But this is a challenge throughout the supply chain based on uncertain customer demands of goods and services. This certificate program will provide knowledge and skills to coordinate sales forecasts, demand plans, and capacity planning to arrive at a consensus plan. The Sales and Operations Planning process also incorporates financial plans and budgets to enable executive-level trade-offs in response to changes in market demand, supplier capabilities, and competition. Driving more sophisticated planning processes will ensure the entire supply chain is optimized to achieve sound bottom-line costs and meet revenue objectives.

Companies are seeking to make their supply chains more sustainable, and they are setting goals around the three pillars of sustainability: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). These goals are integral to their mission and vision for the organizations and are cascaded down to all departments.  Therefore, ensuring that sustainability goals are integrated into their supply chain operations is the responsibility of every supply management professional. To start, sustainability principles and practices need to be understood so that they can be applied and measured successfully within the procurement cycle.

Modern supply chains rely on technology for efficiency. To succeed in supply chain management, one must develop strategies and acquire the necessary skills. In today's competitive global market, companies must use technology to meet customer demands, outperform competitors, and maintain environmental and social responsibility. Technology integration in supply chains is rapidly expanding, making Supply Chain Management (SCM) more efficient and responsive. Supply chain professionals need training to keep up with evolving technologies. The ISM Technology - Essential Strategies and Skills certificate equips students with the knowledge and tools to contribute to their organization's technology adoption and integration efforts.