What is APICS?

What is Operations Management?

1) The planning, scheduling, and control of the activities that transform inputs into finished goods and services. 2) A field of study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use, and control of a manufacturing or service organization through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, quality management, production management, inventory management, accounting, and other functions as they affect the operation.

---- APICS Dictionary

More About APICS

APICS Society's Corporate office is headquartered in Chicago, Illionois. APICS European Office is in Brussels, Belgium. APICS Society is incorporated and is governed by an elected Board of Directors and employs minimal paid staff. The balance of Society is comprised of dedicated volunteers at the Society, District and Chapter levels.

APICS Districts consist of APICS chapters in the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico. There are 9 Districts and more than 250 Chapters in North America chartered by Society. Chapters serve as the face-to-face component of APICS membership.

Each Chapter is chartered by Society, incorporated as a separate legal entity, and governed by a Board of Directors. Members of the Board of Directors are elected every year. They uphold the tenets of Society, attend to their Chapter's legal and financial matters, promote the APICS body of knowledge and develop educational offerings that best serve their membership.

Our Chapter elections are held in May. (The fiscal year runs from July to June.) In June, the Board transitions, and each Director assumes responsibility for managing and reporting on his/her area of responsibility. Chapters report to Districts on the activities of their chapters. This is accomplished through an exchange of information at District Meetings and through a Chapter Management Awards Program called C-Bar. We are proud of our Chapter, which has achieved the highest level award for many consecutive years--a platinum award.

District Directors, who are members of the National Society's Board of Directors, provide the main link between the Society and Chapters. As a member of the Board of Directors; the district director provides recommendations and philosophical direction during the development of policies, procedures, and educational offerings to ensure they enhance the professionalism of operations management. Each district elects a District Director and a District Manager through a special nomination committee made up of chapter presidents within the district.