In 2000, APICS, the professional society for resource management, www.apics.org, introduced its Advanced Supply Chain Management (ASCM) courseware on CD-ROM. APICS is recognized internationally for its education leading to Certification in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and Certification in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM). CPIM and CIRM education both address resource management issues inside the four walls of the firm. ASCM education is the first APICS educational program to address resource management issues outside the four walls of the firm.

The ASCM education is built around a common vocabulary and a set of five fundamental business principles. The APICS Supply Chain Management Principles are positioned at a foundational level, beneath the specifics of any particular vendor s enterprise requirements planning software. The five principles, summarized in Table 4-1, state time-proven business truths that are independent of any particular generation of information technology. This is because a supply chain network has a competitiveness threshold that is determined by the set of relationships, business processes, and operating policies inherent to that network. Education and information technology are the enablers that allow a supply chain network to approach the potential of its competitive threshold. Information technology alone cannot drive the competitiveness of any network beyond its inherent threshold. The design and operation of a supply chain network must be fundamentally competitive before layering on an information technology solution. The design and the operation of a supply chain network also must be fundamentally competitive before people learn how to use the...