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Within our profession there is no common nomenclature and that’s not goo

d. Lack of alignment in our profession and our business titles depletes our numbers as a profession. Accountants are accountants; they have one major certification, the CPA. We have many. I don’t think we will ever all be on the same page.

For instance The Institute for Supply Management changed its name from The National Association of Purchasing Management to broaden their scope. However not all affiliates were convinced to change their name. Many wanted to retain “purchasing” in their title.

Yes, there are a lot of different terms used to describe our profession and I’ve never been quite clear where one ends and the other begins. To illustrate the fact, here’s a few definitions pulled from the Institute for Supply Management’s Glossary of Key Supply Management Terms.

Purchasing – a major function that is responsible for acquisition of required materials, services, and equipment.

Procurement – Organizational function that includes specifications, development, value analysis, supplier market research, negotiation, buying activities, contract administration, inventory control, traffic, receiving, and stores.

Supply Management – The identification, acquisition, access, positioning, management of resources and related capabilities the organization needs or potentially needs in the attainment of its strategic objectives.

And given that our profession can’t decide on a name, I guess it’s no surprise that our job titles are all over the map as well.

Buyer – A mid-level job title in many purchasing organizations. Used to describe all individuals engaged in purchasing activities, regardless of their rank in the organization. The term “purchaser” is generally preferred. 

Purchaser – A professional engaged in carrying out purchasing activities. Purchasers typically specialize in a group of materials or services and are responsible for market analysis, purchase planning, coordination with customers, supplier qualification and selection, order placement and follow-up activities.

Purchasing Agent – See buyer; Supply Management

Now since many of us manage inventory, we are inventory managers. We manage and control the inventory, most likely lined up by category.

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