This CPIM cheat sheet compresses ASCM's Certified in Planning and Inventory Management exam into a quick-reference rundown of the formulas, weights, and definitions examiners lean on most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Back it up with the rest of your free CPIM toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CPIM exam at a glance
- Questions: 150 multiple choice (130 scored + 20 unscored pretest)
- Time: 3.5 hours (210 minutes)
- Passing score: Scaled 200–350; 300 or higher passes (pass/fail)
- Format: CPIM 9.0 — one exam (former Part 1 and Part 2 merged)
- Delivery: Pearson VUE test centers or OnVUE online proctoring
- Certifying body: ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management), formerly APICS
- Cost: Varies by membership and bundle — verify current pricing at ASCM.org
What’s on the CPIM cheat sheet
- Align the Supply Chain to Strategy (12%) — order qualifiers vs. winners, competitive priorities, make-or-buy, SCOR, and the cash-to-cash cycle.
- Conduct S&OP (10%) — the monthly family-level S&OP process and level, chase, and hybrid aggregate strategies.
- Plan and Manage Demand (12%) — independent vs. dependent demand, forecasting methods, MAD, the tracking signal, and the bullwhip effect.
- Plan and Manage Internal Supply (12%) — master scheduling, ATP/CTP, time fences, MRP netting, and RCCP vs. CRP capacity planning.
- Plan and Manage External Supply (11%) — make-or-buy, supplier selection, SRM, and total cost of ownership.
- Plan and Manage Inventory (14%) — the heaviest area — EOQ, reorder point, safety stock, ABC analysis, and cycle counting.
- Detailed Schedules (12%) — theory of constraints, drum-buffer-rope, takt time, and production activity control.
- Distribution (8%) + Quality, CI & Technology (9%) — DRP and risk pooling, plus SPC, Six Sigma/DMAIC, lean, and ERP.
How to use it in your final week
- Memorize the five score-moving formulas cold — EOQ, reorder point (demand over lead time plus safety stock), safety stock, available-to-promise, and takt time — then work one numeric rep of each from the sheet.
- Drill the MRP record: gross requirements minus scheduled receipts minus projected on-hand equals net requirements, then offset the planned order release back by the lead time.
- Front-load the heaviest areas — Inventory (14%) plus the five areas tied at 12% (Strategy, Demand, Internal Supply, Detailed Schedules) — since no single module dominates and breadth is what the exam rewards.
- Read the planning-hierarchy strip the morning of the exam (business plan to S&OP to MPS to MRP to the floor) and pair each review pass with a short timed practice set to hold your pacing across the 3.5-hour clock.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CPIM practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CPIM cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CPIM cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no payment. It sits alongside Career Employer's free CPIM practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole review stack is free.
It condenses the highest-yield facts from ASCM's current CPIM 9.0 content into a fast reference: the nine content areas with their exam weights, the core formulas (EOQ, reorder point, safety stock, ATP, MRP netting, takt time, MAD and tracking signal), and the planning hierarchy from S&OP down to MRP and the shop floor.
It follows CPIM 9.0, the single-exam version whose Exam Content Manual took effect June 1, 2026. That release split the older 8.0 'Plan and Manage Supply' area into separate Internal and External Supply areas, giving nine weighted content areas — the sheet reflects those nine.
No — the CPIM is scored on a scaled 200 to 350 range and you need 300 to pass, across 150 questions and nine content areas. The sheet is a cram and last-look aid to lock in formulas and definitions; pair it with worked practice questions so the calculation areas become automatic.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark this page so it's easy to find again the week before your exam.
References
- 1.ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management). “APICS Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM).” ascm.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management). “APICS CPIM 9.0 Exam Content Manual (ECM), effective June 1, 2026.” ascm.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management). “Certification Exam Details and Process.” ascm.org, 2026. ↑
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