Taking the CPIM Exams: Should I Guess?

All the way back in grade school, teachers used to give you tips and hints about taking formalized tests. You may have heard that the answer is more likely to be "C" or that guessing "B" when unsure will mitigate point loss. I can't vouch for those claims on grade school tests, but for the purposes of the CPIM exams you can stow those strategies in the attic next to the Christmas decorations. There are a few proven CPIM test strategies for eliminating answers and even guessing when all else fails. Consider this sample question:

The throughput of a particular work process is determined by which of the following?

A) Overloaded work centers

B) First upstream process

C) Last downstream process

D) Underloaded work centers

Notice how the question is formatted. The decision is going to fall between two general options: work centers (A or D) or processes (B or C). This style of questioning is used very frequently on the CPIM exams, so understanding how to eliminate options intelligently will sway the odds in your favor. In order to do this, you'll need to reason out the options and only eliminate choices that you're sure are incorrect. For this example, you'd want to define throughput, which is the total volume of production passing through a facility. Next, you'd ask "what's going to determine my throughput"? We know from our study guide that bottlenecks constrain capacity and control throughput. Using this understanding to our advantage we can eliminate "C" as the downstream process will have no impact on the previous process' throughput. "D" can be eliminated because underloaded work centers aren't utilizing their maximum capacity. "B" could be correct as the upstream process that feeds our work center in this example could constrain throughput, but our best o

ption is "A" since overloaded work centers become bottlenecks that limit an entire process' throughput. "A" is correct.

When Guessing is Needed, Remember the Five Dollar Challenge

As we hinted earlier, you may come across a question that absolutely stumps you. Consider the $5 challenge approach if guessing becomes necessary on the CPIM exam. You only mark your "best guess" if you're willing to bet five bucks on it, and you only eliminate choices from guessing if you are willing to bet five bucks on them as well. Why five dollars? Well, five dollars is small enough to be wagered a few times, but large enough to add up quickly to discourage you from guessing. Likewise, each answer choice on one question of the CPIM exam will have a small impact on your overall score, but will add up to a substantial amount of points in the end.

So, which answer do you select when guessing? To stay truly random, always select the first answer choice among those remaining. By choosing this technique you have decided, before you see a single test question, exactly how you'll execute your backup strategy. After all, the order of choices tells you nothing about which one is correct, so you're keeping answer bias out of the equation by following this guessing technique.Remember: if you eliminate the right answer your chances of getting the question correct drop to 0%. By guessing among all the answer choices, you are guaranteed a 25% chance of selecting the correct answer. There lies the cost-benefit analysis of guessing with the $5 challenge; if you give up the advantage and safety of a pure guess, it has to be worth the risk!

So, which answer do you select when guessing? To stay truly random, always select the first answer choice among those remaining. By choosing this technique you have decided, before you see a single test question, exactly how you'll execute yoAll the way back in grade school, teachers used to give you tips and hints about taking formalized tests. You may have heard that the answer is more likely to be "C" or that guessing "B" when unsure will mitigate point loss. I can't vouch for those claims on grade school tests, but for the purposes of the CPIM exams you can stow those strategies in the attic next to the Christmas decorations. There are a few proven CPIM test strategies for eliminating answers and even guessing when all else fails. Consider this sample question:

The throughput of a particular work process is determined by which of the following?

A) Overloaded work centers

B) First upstream process

C) Last downstream process

D) Underloaded work centers

Notice how the question is formatted. The decision is going to fall between two general options: work centers (A or D) or processes (B or C). This style of questioning is used very frequently on the CPIM exams, so understanding how to eliminate options intelligently will sway the odds in your favor. In order to do this, you'll need to reason out the options and only eliminate choices that you're sure are incorrect. For this example, you'd want to define throughput, which is the total volume of production passing through a facility. Next, you'd ask "what's going to determine my throughput"? We know from our study guide that bottlenecks constrain capacity and control throughput. Using this understanding to our advantage we can eliminate "C" as the downstream process will have no impact on the previous process' throughput. "D" can be eliminated because underloaded work centers aren't utilizing their maximum capacity. "B" could be correct as the upstream process that feeds our work center in this example could constrain throughput, but our best option is "A" since overloaded work centers become bottlenecks that limit an entire process' throughput. "A" is correct.

When Guessing is Needed, Remember the Five Dollar Challenge

As we hinted earlier, you may come across a question that absolutely stumps you. Consider the $5 challenge approach if guessing becomes necessary on the CPIM exam. You only mark your "best guess" if you're willing to bet five bucks on it, and you only eliminate choices from guessing if you are willing to bet five bucks on them as well. Why five dollars? Well, five dollars is small enough to be wagered a few times, but large enough to add up quickly to discourage you from guessing. Likewise, each answer choice on one question of the CPIM exam will have a small impact on your overall score, but will add up to a substantial amount of points in the end.

So, which answer do you select when guessing? To stay truly random, always select the first answer choice among those remaining. By choosing this technique you have decided, before you see a single test question, exactly how you'll execute your backup strategy. After all, the order of choices tells you nothing about which one is correct, so you're keeping answer bias out of the equation by following this guessing technique.Remember: if you eliminate the right answer your chances of getting the question correct drop to 0%. By guessing among all the answer choices, you are guaranteed a 25% chance of selecting the correct answer. There lies the cost-benefit analysis of guessing with the $5 challenge; if you give up the advantage and safety of a pure guess, it has to be worth the risk!

So, which answer do you select when guessing? To stay truly random, always select the first answer choice among those remaining. By choosing this technique you have decided, before you see a single test question, exactly how you'll execute your backup strategy. After all, the order of choices tells you nothing about which one is correct, so you're keeping answer bias out of the equation by following this guessing technique.

Earning an APICS certification ur backup strategy. After all, the order of choices tells you nothing about which one is correct, so you're keeping answer bias out of the equation by following this guessing technique.

Earning an APICS certification