The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), formerly the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a United Kingdom-based global professional body working for the purchasing and supply professions. With an objective of "leading excellence in procurement and supply", it aims to promote good practice and provides services for the benefit of a procurement community of 115,000 members.
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CIPS aims to promote and develop high standards of professional skill, ability, and integrity among all those engaged in purchasing and supply chain management. Its headquarters are located in Easton on the Hill, just inside Northamptonshire, near Stamford, Lincolnshire.
The current Chief Executive is David Noble FCIPS, who was appointed on 1 June 2009.
Members of CIPS are required to uphold the CIPS Code of Conduct. Members are represented within CIPS through Congress. In the UK, CIPS seeks to work with the procurement profession in the public sector and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government's Cabinet Office on 28 May 2012 seeking to "[cement] closer working and enhancing Government purchasing capability". CIPS is also partnered with the US Institute of Supply Management (ISM). CIPS works to promote understanding of procurement as a "career of choice" and to help people interested in procurement enter the profession. The CIPS Foundation supports students who struggle to get into and further their development in the profession.
Professional Certification Programmes
The professional qualifications programs include:
CIPS have designed a level based qualification program:
Upon completion of the professional diploma and with sufficient procurement experience, candidates can acquire full membership (MCIPS). Before acceding to full membership, students hold associate member status (ACIPS). Higher status may also be achieved through recommendation and achievement in the form of a fellowship (FCIPS).
The exam format for Level 2 and Level 3 is based on multiple choice exams. The exam format for Levels 4 - 6 is based on 3 hour written theory exam format.
The program was redesigned and modified in 2013 to incorporate the latest developments in the procurement profession.
CIPS Worldwide
Publications
The institute's official magazine is Supply Management, published monthly by Haymarket.