CATS SRM® Foundation - English

Every organization depends on suppliers, yet few manage those relationships with the rigor they apply to their projects and services. Contracts get signed and performance gets measured, while the relationship itself is largely left to chance.

CATS SRM® brings structure to exactly that. Introduced in 2026 by CM Partners, the methodology gives supplier relationship managers and supplier owners a clear way to manage both the suppliers they work with today and the ones they may need tomorrow. It separates the potential supplier from the contracted supplier, defines the roles and the process, and provides a set of Essentials covering objectives, risk, governance, stakeholders, market position and performance.

The CATS SRM® Foundation V1 certification covers the basics of the methodology. It proves that you understand supplier relationship management according to CATS SRM® and can use its terms and models, so you can step into any organization that works this way and contribute from day one.

The CATS SRM® Foundation V1 exam validates that you understand supplier relationship management based on the CATS SRM® methodology, and that you can use the terms and models of the methodology. It confirms that you can quickly adapt to the way of working in an organization that has chosen CATS SRM® as the basis for its supplier relationship management.

Passing the exam demonstrates that you can:

• Position the CATS SRM® methodology and explain what it sets out to achieve
• Use the core definitions correctly: supplier relationship management, contract management, and realization and verification management
• Explain organizational control through objectives, the CATS Supplier Life Cycle, success factors and the CATS Sourcing Framework
• Describe the five pillars of the methodology: the distinction between a potential supplier and a contracted supplier, the SRM Essentials, the roles involved, the supplier relationship management process and its steps, and the scenarios and plans of the supplier relationship manager
• Work through the Initiate step for both potential and contracted suppliers, covering the preparation, the determination of the approach and the implementation
• Apply the SRM Essentials for basic activities: supplier and account objectives, risks, third party due diligence, the relationship risk profile, supplier governance and the governance model, meeting and reporting structures, the Supplier Board, the supplier file, document management, milestone management and information provision
• Apply the SRM Essentials for long term relationship activities: stakeholders and the stakeholder classification and communication matrices, attractiveness and the supplier preferencing model, the BCG matrix, market dynamics, market structures and market relationships
• Apply the SRM Essentials for contracted supplier activities: the contract portfolio, agreements and performance