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23:51 Apr 23, 2014 

I've worked mainly for engineering companies from the US, Canada and Australia, none from Europe. All of them had a Procurement Dept. and the purchasing was part of the Admin Group. So my concept here is limited to a certain type of company, and I wasn't aware of it. I thought it was a standard thing. Thanks for clearing this out!

10:53 Apr 23, 2014 

That's not entirely true; in EN, 'purchasing' (and even 'buying') is widely used for the departments/services that deal with buying in goods, raw materials, etc. in a wide range of organizations, from very small ones to giant multi-nationals.
'Procurement', on the other hand, is used in a much more restricted range of situations: first and foremost, it is a term commonly used by the Ministry of Defence etc. that deal with major contracts of national or even international importance.
It is also sometimes used by other Government bodies; and lastly, it is used by SOME companies, but mainly ones that deal with purchases on a large scale; it would be unusual for a procurement service to deal with buying office staples, for example!

So while 'purchasing' can never be wrong in any situation, 'procurement' can, and therefore needs to be used with some caution.

I suspect too that 'procurement' may be found rather more widely in the US than in Europe.

09:23 Apr 23, 2014 

I think "purchasing departement" as you first suggested is the one to go with, especially if you have already used "department" for "pôle". You are the only one who has the context (scale, type of acquisitions/purchases etc.).

22:07 Apr 22, 2014 

Purchase refers to small purchases of cleaning materials, stationery, etc. For big equipment and capital assets, the dept. is called "Procurement" not "Purchasing". Purchasing is done by the Administration Dept. It is Procurement that has a separate dept.

07:27 Apr 22, 2014 

As you say, Tony, it is a "buzzy" term and very "à la mode".

07:21 Apr 22, 2014 

I don't think that's universally true — lots of companies use 'pôle' as a rather pompous (and very buzzy!) term for all the things we've been discussing about. It could indeed sometimes be a group's 'central purchasing unit' — but it really is something that has quite a wide range of interpretations depending on the actual organization.

Your 'Pôle d'excellence' is a little bit of a red herring, inasmuch as these are external things that do indeed group together otherwise unconnected bodies, cf. 'Centre of Excellence' in the UK. In some other contexts, but with the same notion of grouping together, a 'pôle' may even be a 'hub' — but I don't really think this is the concept that applies in this context, which appears oin the face of it to be more internal.

06:46 Apr 22, 2014 

The primary concept of a pôle is centralization which implies that there is a strong emphasis on the fact that in this context of purchasing, everything must go through it. Thus the word is more emphatic than section or unit. Department is perhaps more structured, with a Department head, etc. and perhaps more local. I think the concept of pôle is a newer idea with for example, Poles of Excellence in France being created by the last government here. Grenoble for example is a Pole of Excellence.

22:37 Apr 21, 2014 

Sorry, I realise now it was quite a basic question, I thought it was department but wasn't sure. I check the glossary before posting questions, sorry about missing it. Thanks for all your help.

22:25 Apr 21, 2014 

We've had "pôle" lots of times before. Are you checking the glossary before you post questions?

22:11 Apr 21, 2014 

Thanks both, I previously translated 'pôle' as department, 'Institutional investment and Third-Party Distribution department'. Would department be ok again, giving 'purchasing department'?