The APICS Certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM) program provides the leadership, the framework,and the educational resources to help all organisations meet the challenges of today's global marketplace. The CIRM program is the educational framework necessary to prepare individuals to gain the knowledge they need to cope with,and to make and implement decisions in, an environment subject to rapid and constant change.

Objectives
To develop multiskilled persons who:

• can provide effective leadership to self-directed work teams
• can integrate resources for competitive advantage
• understand the implications of all potential decisions
• can make decisions that will be in the long-term best interest of an organization
• can successfully initiate and manage change within an organization
• can contribute directly to the improved operational performance of an organization.

The intent of the CIRM program is to provide organizations with people who are capable of creating and succeeding in the 21st century. An organisation with a team of individual who have successfully completed the CIRM program will hold a distinct competitive advantage. A few of the world-class organizations that are investing in CIRM:

Modules in CIRM program

Enterprise Concepts and Fundamentals (EC&F)

• First module in the CIRM program
• Introduces the strategic fundamentals of the value-driven enterprise, management concept of organizational design and structure, the basic business processes that will be covered in the CIRM curriculum, and the four basic support functions of quality, human resources, finance and accounting, and information systems

Identifying and Creating Demand

• Deals with business processes involved in the definition of the marketplace and in selling the products the enterprise has available, or is willing to develop.
• Include strategies and tactics that identify, define, and quantify customer wants and needs, and those that result in mutually profitable sales
• To identify and close on customer demand so the rest of an enterprise's resources can be used effectively to deliver products and services that add value for customers

Designing Products and Processes

• Examines the systems, approaches, and strategies used by an enterprise to convert a need or innovation into a product, process, or service that meets the expectations of both the enterprise and the customer
• Shows how design strategy seeks to draw on an organization's strengths and competencies to reinforce and sustain competitive position based on providing value to customer
• Examines the activities in the design process, which include organizing and defining the design team, determining the resources needed, identifying the work to be done and the anticipated output from the work, doing the actual work, and measuring the results

Delivering Products and Services

• Examines the systems, approaches, and strategies used by an enterprise to make the transition from concept to product and from customer expectation to product delivery

Integrated Enterprise Management

• The final course acts as a capstone of the whole CIRM educational program, uniting all the areas covered in the other four modules together with the application of strategic thinking to enterprisewide issues, such as the integration of individuals within teams, functions, and the enterprise, and the evolution of an enterprise within its environment and over time.