I hope that you have enjoyed the article “What Is Supply Chain Management, Anyway?“

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With all of the names that are given to the purchasing function, it is no surprise that people are confused. While most of these names (e.g., purchasing, procurement, supply management, etc.), in my opinion, refer to the same thing, I thought that making a distinction between purchasing and supply chain management was important.

Supply chain management is much more encompassing. It’s really the end-to-end operation for an organization’s core competency.

Speaking of names for our profession, be sure to watch for the 2007 Purchasing & Supply Management Skills & Career Report (tentative title) coming later this month. This report will share some statistics that may affect what our profession will be called in the years ahead!