The word is getting out: Purchasing is an important—indeed, vital—function within corporations. And that's why buyers are in demand, as our cover story, "Buyers are red hot," reports in this issue.

Recruiters are seeing growing competition among companies of all stripes for purchasing professionals who can think and act strategically, our story shows. Here's one reason why: As research firm AT Kearney has reported, 60% of companies are now using their procurement expertise to help set, rather than just execute, corporate strategy.

And that fact helps explain one other development: the elevation of some purchasing professionals to the executive suite with the title chief procurement officer. Emptoris president and founder Avner Schneur says he has seen the hits on Google for "chief procurement officer" skyrocket over the last three years. I recently typed in the title and the search engine turned up 5,910,000 items. That's still less than the 28 million-plus items for chief finance officer, but still impressive.

At the October 18 PURCHASING magazine Global Supply Management Symposium, Christie Breves, CPO at Alcoa, spoke along with Rick Kelson, CFO, on the rise of the CPO in corporations in general and Alcoa in particular. "Our (Alcoa's) executive council wanted to expedite the progress we were making in procurement," Kelson said in the keynote interview for the symposium. "We were making great progress, but thought we could do better and do it quicker." Added Breves, "we wanted to get our act together in the area of procurement to drive advantage for the company." You can still listen to the interview by registering for the Global Supply Management Symposium at www.gsmspurchasing.com.

As more executives come to realize the competitive advantages purchasing professionals can bring to their businesses, the field should gain even more visibility. Will more salary come with that visibility? Yes, and it's already happening. Watch for our annual salary report in the December 8 issue.

If you want to network with and learn from others in the purchasing field who are grappling with the same issues you face—or will face—then register for the CPO's Summit. It is being organized by PURCHASING magazine and the Aberdeen Group and will be held in Boston, November 16 and 17. PURCHASING editors, Aberdeen executives and industry luminaries will speak on the hottest topics in the field. You can find out more and register at www.purchasing.com .