PTCB Supply Chain study guide
PTCB Supply Chain · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The PTCB Supply Chain and Inventory Management Certificate is one of the certificate credentials listed in PTCB's certificate catalog, alongside offerings such as Billing and Reimbursement, Hazardous Drug Management, and Regulatory Compliance. It is aimed at pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support staff whose day-to-day work involves ordering products, maintaining stock levels, receiving shipments, processing returns, managing recalls, and keeping the documentation that regulators and auditors expect. Our practice material for this credential is organized around four domains of equal size: procurement and purchasing; inventory control and storage; receiving, returns, and recalls; and regulatory compliance and documentation. Questions ask you to apply workflow judgment - for example, deciding when a purchase order should be reconciled against a packing slip, how a par level or reorder point is used, what documentation should accompany a returned or quarantined product, and how recall notices are traced to affected stock. The PTCB Supply Chain study guide has 4 sections and about 1,285 words.
01Procurement and Purchasing
Procurement begins with an internal requisition - a request from a department or pharmacist - which, once approved, becomes a purchase order (PO) sent to a vendor. A requisition is not a contract; a PO accepted by a supplier is.
312 words, about 2 min02Inventory Control and Storage
Inventory accuracy rests on a perpetual system, in which every transaction updates on-hand quantity, verified by cycle counts rather than one annual wall-to-wall count. ABC analysis directs counting effort to the few high-value or high-volume items (A items) that drive most of the spend.
311 words, about 2 min03Receiving, Returns, and Recalls
Receiving is a control point, not a formality. Compare the shipment to the purchase order and packing slip , count units, inspect packaging, verify expiration dates are sufficiently distant per policy, and confirm the cold chain with the shipping data logger before signing.
346 words, about 2 min04Regulatory Compliance and Documentation
Compliance is layered: the FDA (approval, labeling, recalls, DSCSA), the DEA (controlled substances), state boards of pharmacy (licensure, facility standards), and standards bodies such as USP (<795 , <797 , <800 ) plus accreditors like the Joint Commission, ACHC, or URAC. Know the retention rules.
316 words, about 2 min