APICS acknowledges the Strategic Management of Resources Committee for its

contributions in the development of this resource.

David Rivers, CFPIM, CIRM, CSCP (chair)
Stephen Chapman, Ph.D., CFPIM
Craig Gustin, Ph.D., CFPIM, CIRM, CSCP
Frank Montabon, Ph.D., CPIM, CIRM, CSCP
Rebecca Morgan, CFPIM
Andy Nourse, CPIM

2009 APICS The Association for Operations Management

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or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
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Important Information Regarding these Practice Questions

One important way to prepare for the APICS CPIM examinations is to simulate the test experience by taking a
series of practice questions. One of the benefits of using the practice questions is familiarizing yourself with
the types of questions encountered in an actual APICS certification examination. There is no correlation
between the number of practice questions you answer correctly and your success under actual examination
conditions, but your understanding of typical question formats can make the actual examination less stressful.
Please be aware that these practice questions have been retired from previous examinations. In most cases,
the questions had been used an optimal number of times and were replaced by questions that had enjoyed
less exposure. For this reason, the questions may not have been developed using the references currently
cited in the APICS Examination Content Manual as primary or additional references. The questions
themselves have been reviewed for currency by the appropriate committee of the APICS Curricula and
Certification Council.
The practice questions in this publication have been selected to represent the topical distribution of the
questions that you can expect to encounter in the examination. To assist you in a general understanding of
how test questions are related to the reference materials used in their creation, the answer key provides the
page numbers of the source reference material. However, unless they are identified in the current Examination
Content Manual, do not assume that the references listed in this publication are appropriate for use as study
materials.
For more information about the APICS CPIM examinations, please visit the Certification section of the APICS
website (www.apics.org).

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions | 1

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

1. When a company is pursuing a program to achieve manufacturing excellence, which of the
following objectives should receive the highest priority?
(A) delivery reliability
(B) quality improvement
(C) cost reduction
(D) volume flexibility
2. Which of the following order-winning criteria typically lie within the jurisdiction of the
manufacturing function?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Delivery reliability
Product design leadership
Quality conformance
Aftermarket service
(A) I and III only
(B) I and IV only
(C) II and III only
(D) I, II, III, and IV

3. Which of the following is most likely to be the order winner in the early stages of a products
life cycle?
(A) quality
(B) design
(C) support
(D) price
4. The "voice of the customer" refers to identifying customer wants through which two of the
following mechanisms?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Working to resolve customer complaints

Listening to requests from potential customers
Producing reliable products consistently
Conducting in-depth qualitative customer interviews
(A) I and II
(B) II and III
(C) II and IV
(D) III and IV

5. Which of the following is the best way to begin changing employee behavior?
(A) simplify and flatten the organizational structure
(B) implement a human resource information system
(C) change the performance measurement and reward system
(D) provide more timely and explicit management directives

2 | Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

6. A company is considering the adoption of a highly automated form of manufacturing

technology that will have a major impact on its production process. Which of the following
situations will most likely cause the longest delay in the implementation of this new
technology?
(A) The necessary support and maintenance systems do not currently exist and must be developed.
(B) The proposed changes will cause a mismatch between products and processes.
(C) This technology conflicts with the companys capabilities and culture.
(D) The company has too few skilled technicians and experienced implementers of this type of new
technology.
7. Which of the following is likely to be the most important order winner for a producer of
custom-designed, low-volume products?
(A) price/cost
(B) delivery speed
(C) image
(D) design capability
8. An organization converting from a process-focused facility to work cells will most likely
experience which of the following?
(A) increased in-process inventory
(B) a less focused, unstable workforce
(C) reduced manufacturing lead times
(D) reduced excess capacity
9. Operations Management responsible for a product line where minimizing labor rates and
maximizing operation efficiencies are their most important activities will most likely be
managing products with which of the following characteristics?
(A) high volume, standard design
(B) medium volume, short life cycle
(C) medium volume, custom design
(D) low volume, engineer to order
10. Which of the following performance measurements is likely to be the most important to
operations managers of a medium volume, short life cycle product line?
(A) capacity utilization
(B) standard error of the forecast
(C) number of schedule changes
(D) time to market
11. All of the following are considerations in the adoption of a process focus EXCEPT the
(A) complexity of the manufacturing process
(B) capital intensity of the manufacturing process
(C) book value of current production assets
(D) type of technology used in the manufacturing process
12. Which of the following may be used as a measure of flexibility?
(A) output per employee
(B) reduction of burden rate
(C) skills per employee
(D) machine efficiency

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions | 3

13. Which of the following manufacturing technology choices would most likely provide the
greatest benefit to a company whose order winners are delivery speed and flexibility?
(A) transfer line
(B) cellular manufacturing system
(C) automated material handling
(D) quality function deployment
14. Which of the following ratios usually provides the best measure of a plants overall
productivity?
(A) return on investment
(B) sales dollars per employee
(C) overall inventory turnover
(D) total factor productivity
15. Which of the following best measures the production operations contribution to delivery
reliability?
(A) cycle time per part
(B) percent master schedule achieved
(C) number of customer complaints
(D) direct labor hours per product
16. Analyzing capital investments by estimating future cash flows and translating them into
equivalent amounts in todays terms is called
(A) average return on investment analysis
(B) payback analysis
(C) internal rate of return analysis
(D) discounted cash flow analysis
17. When a company decides to increase the number of features and options available on a
product line, which of the following is most likely to occur?
(A) The total cost per unit will rise.
(B) The total cost per unit will remain the same.
(C) The material cost per unit will rise.
(D) The labor cost will remain the same.
18. Which of the following actions should a design engineering staff take to improve product
performance and quality for a company adding new options for a product line?
(A) standardize major component parts for the new options
(B) purchase the new options as complete modules
(C) implement leading-edge manufacturing process technology
(D) establish detailed process specifications
19. Which of the following planning techniques is likely to be most useful in a manufacturing
environment where multiple options are available for product lines?
(A) rough-cut capacity planning
(B) program evaluation review technique (PERT)
(C) capacity requirements planning
(D) distribution requirements planning

4 | Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

20. A manufacturers decision to extend the degree of forward integration should be influenced
by its desire to do which of the following?
I. Reduce the uncertainty of demand
II. Erect barriers to potential competitors
III. Reduce the number of processes to be controlled
(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) I, II, and III
21. Which of the following is the most important consideration when designing an information
system to control shop floor operations?
(A) supporting differentiation between functional areas and production operations
(B) providing staff specialists with the information needed to control production operations
(C) allowing factory personnel to manage their own production operations
(D) encouraging users to operate independently with a minimal amount of training
22. All of the following are requirements for a successful employee involvement (EI) program
EXCEPT
(A) common understanding of the employees role in achieving the plants strategy
(B) management clearly identifying and defining the problems to be solved
(C) providing the EI teams with authority to change work processes
(E) developing intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to recognize jobs done well
23. An information system implementation project is six months behind schedule because many
people involved with the project are working on a serious problem with product quality.
Which of the following actions should the executive steering committee take in this
situation?
(A) Let the project manager handle the problem and get the project back on schedule.
(B) Reschedule implementation efforts based on the resources currently available.
(C) Contract with an outside systems and consulting group to implement the system.
(D) Cancel the system implementation because it is adversely affecting product quality.
24. Companies that produce a narrow range of high-volume products will most likely choose
which of the following processes?
(A) project
(B) jobbing
(C) batch
(D) line
25. The primary difference between the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the
critical path method (CPM) is that
(A) PERT can incorporate variances in the duration of an activity
(B) the duration of each activity is easier to determine using PERT
(C) PERT provides the ability to assess schedule-crashing opportunities
(D) PERT is better suited for progress reporting

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions | 5

26. Design for manufacturability is supposed to result in which of the following?

(A) improve product quality
(B) reduced training needs
(C) reduced product features
(D) delayed market introductions
27. Which of the following actions will most likely ensure end-user support for a new
computerized information management system?
(A) providing high-quality training materials and detailed operating procedures for the end users
(B) verifying that the system design is complete and capable of providing all features and capabilities
identified by management
(C) involving system users and stakeholders in reviews and approvals throughout the design and
implementation process
(D) communicating the strategic objectives of the new system and asking all personnel to support its
implementation
28. Which of the following is the most appropriate method for evaluating the cost of a product
that has little direct labor required in a company with large overhead costs?
(A) process costing
(B) average actual costing
(C) activity-based costing
(D) standard costing
29. Which of the following measures of manufacturing performance would be most appropriate
for a manufacturing environment where product delivery speed and reliability are the order
winners?
(A) cost per unit
(B) direct labor efficiency
(C) machine utilization
(D) master schedule compliance
30. At which of the following levels should inventory be held to better serve the consumer
market for a retail commodity product?
(A) raw/component parts
(B) work in process
(C) fully assembled products
(D) packaged finished goods
31. Which of the following contributes the most to a purchasing departments ability to improve
supplier delivery reliability?
(A) a computerized purchase requisition system
(B) use of electronic data interchange (EDI)
(C) improved relations between expediters and suppliers
(D) long-term contracts with suppliers
32. Which of the following techniques could be used to model random events to help evaluate
the financial returns for a project?
(A) internal rate of return
(B) discounted cash flow
(C) Monte Carlo simulation
(D) total factor productivity

6 | Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

33. Which of the following capacity management techniques would be most effective for
reducing delivery lead time in an assemble-to-order production operation?
(A) measuring and controlling work cell utilization
(B) releasing and controlling orders using kanban
(C) providing detailed schedules of shop floor operations
(D) online tracking of work-in-process inventories
34. Measurements that focus on plant and/or machine utilization promote which of the following?
I. Buying excessive amounts of raw material
II. Building finished goods inventories
III. Delaying preventive maintenance
(A) III only
(B) I and II only
(C) II and III only
(D) I, II, and III
35. Implementing material requirements planning primarily helps a company attain which of the
following strategic objectives?
(A) product price
(B) product quality
(C) delivery speed
(D) delivery reliability
36. Which of the following best describes the traditional (command and control) approach to
managing plant operations?
(A) It increases the role of line personnel in making management decisions and decreases the
importance of staff positions.
(B) It evaluates performance based on contribution toward the success of the business rather than
adhering to procedures.
(C) It relies on the use of standard operating procedures rather than allowing flexible responses to
problems as they occur.
(D) It emphasizes worker skills and problem-solving capabilities rather than making processes
independent of worker abilities.
37. The customers of a company that implements lean production principles will most likely
benefit from which of the following?
(A) increased delivery lead time
(B) improved quality of products shipped
(C) small lot sizes
(D) reduced freight costs
38. Which of the following performance measures is most appropriate for determining the overall
improvement of lean manufacturing operations?
(A) direct labor efficiency
(B) inventory turns
(C) equipment utilization
(D) overhead variances

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions | 7

39. Marketing personnel in a company implementing lean production are likely to highlight with
customers all of the following benefits EXCEPT
(A) incentives for large-lot deliveries
(B) improved on-time delivery
(C) improved quality
(D) reduced customer hedge inventory
40. Which of the following company functions should be included in the planning for lean
production implementation?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Maintenance
Order entry
Engineering
Purchasing
(A) I and III only
(B) II and IV only
(C) III and IV only
(D) I, II, III, and IV

41. Which of the following will have the greatest influence on an employees evaluations and
promotions?
(A) product output
(B) setup time
(C) performance to standard
(D) problem-solving skills
42. Enhanced productivity of the workforce results from which of the following?
I. Elimination of complex process flows
II. Reorganization of people and equipment to match product flow
III. Specialization of worker assignments
(A) I and II only
(B) I and III only
(C) II and III only
(D) I, II, and III
43. Throughput accounting assigns which of the following to products?
(A) actual costs incurred
(B) fully absorbed costs
(C) fixed production costs
(D) total variable costs
44. Long-term agreements with suppliers may include which of the following types of special
arrangements?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Simplified paperwork systems

Returnable containers
Specially designed containers
Effective personal contacts at each site
(A) IV only
(B) II and III only
(C) I, II, and III only
(D) I, II, III, and IV

8 | Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

45. Which of the following statements is true about companies that begin to automate before
implementing lean production?
(A) They tend to spend more money on material handling.
(B) They tend to have a higher success rate.
(C) They find that the conversion to lean production goes faster.
(D) They find that the conversion to automation goes faster.
46. A focused factory is usually characterized by which two of the following?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Restricted product variety

Decreased attention to detail
Layout by function
Logical flow patterns
(A) I and III
(B) I and IV
(C) II and III
(D) II and IV

47. The scope of supply chain management ranges from recognition of market need for the
product to which of the following?
(A) the products availability in stock
(B) the products shipment to customer
(C) the end of the products life
(D) the products acceptance by quality control
48. The results from implementing strategic production processes such as lean production are
best measured by
(A) departmental efficiencies
(B) shipping schedule compliance
(C) project return on investment
(D) value added per employment dollar
49. An effective lean production implementation should result in which of the following?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Maximum work center utilization

Employee satisfaction
Development of detailed cost accounting data
Increased total business productivity
(A) I and III only
(B) II and IV only
(C) I, II and IV only
(D) I, II, III, and IV

50. All of the following are process analysis tools EXCEPT

(A) flow charts
(B) process control charts
(C) critical path method
(D) scatter diagrams and correlations
51. In the implementation of lean production, which of the following is the most significant
change for the accounting function?
(A) cellular processes no longer report every operation to accounting
(B) budgeted scrap and rework costs that create variances are reduced
(C) physical inventory of work-in-process inventory is more time-consuming
(D) costs of incentive programs increase

Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions | 9

52. Training in JIT and lean production should increase capabilities of operations supervisors to
do all of the following EXCEPT
(A) balance work load in cells
(B) plan area production
(C) keep the workforce running its machines
(D) coordinate preventive maintenance
53. Which of the following types of action is most likely to increase the residual income of an
organization?
(A) use less capital to produce the same level of income
(B) spend more money to increase revenue
(C) reduce the geographical markets served
(D) invest only in projects that produce a required rate of return
54. When a strategy for continuous improvement is initiated, policies on which of the following
areas are usually established first?
(A) cost reduction
(B) delivery dependability
(C) quality improvement
(D) flexibility
55. Basic lean production approaches to managing people include the establishment of all of the
following EXCEPT
(A) a strong corporate philosophy
(B) consensus decision-making
(C) long-range planning
(D) specialized career paths for employees
56. Benefits of lean production include which of the following?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Reduced frequency of material movements

Reduced costs of quality
Increased machine tool utilization
Increased customer service
(A) I and III
(B) I and IV
(C) II and III
(D) II and IV

57. Customer-oriented manufacturing performance measures include all of the following

EXCEPT
(A) service parts availability
(B) cost variances
(C) product quality
(D) delivery responsiveness
58. All of the following elements are required for a successful change to the lean production
approach EXCEPT
(A) organizationwide awareness of a need for improvement
(B) people who are willing to take risks
(C) a past history of excellence in manufacturing
(D) commitment for continued improvement

10 | Strategic Management of Resources Practice Questions

59. In a lean production environment, incentive programs should be based on which of the
following?
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Quality output
Group performance
Output in excess of daily quotas
Attainment of daily quotas
(A) I and III only
(B) II and IV only
(C) I, II, and III only
(D) I, II, and IV only

60. Increased producibility is best achieved by doing which of the following?

(A) implementing flexible manufacturing systems
(B) using expert systems
(C) simplifying design
(D) using computer-aided design