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Procurement’s Communication Superpower W/ David Yarkin

Release Date: 05/05/2025

Procurement’s Communication Superpower W/ David Yarkin

Art of Procurement

"If you can't understand how procurement affects the ultimate end users in your organization, whether it's a state prison, or whether it's a manufacturing facility in Germany, then you're abdicating your role, you're just a robot. And that's why procurement has a superpower." - David Yarkin, CEO, Procurated Long before "DOGE" became a buzzword in government efficiency, the state of Pennsylvania led a pioneering strategic procurement transformation that saved taxpayers millions… $140 million to be exact (and on a recurring basis, at that). The key to their success wasn't just smart buying...

799: Procurement 6 | May 2nd, 2025

Art of Procurement

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time. Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement. Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

BTW EP 08: The Phil-Ins: In Search of Equilibrium with Phil, Kelly, and Rich

Art of Procurement

More than one hundred years after John C. Dinsmore wrote in Purchasing Principles and Practices that “there should be no great chasm between the board of directors who represent the stockholders whose money is spent and the person who does the spending,” procurement is still struggling with the same fundamental problem of misalignment. In the eighth episode of “Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement,” Philip Ideson, Kelly Barner, and Rich Ham, CEO at Fine Tune, convene to grapple with the insights – and even a few uncomfortable truths – uncovered in their recent conversations...

798: Bridging the Gap Between Procurement and Legal W/ Paul Bagley

Art of Procurement

“I understand that tension between procurement and legal could happen, but it really is a disservice to each other. It's like two brothers fighting. It doesn't make any sense.” - Paul Bagley, Director of Commercial Contracting, Acosta Group Procurement and legal often find themselves at odds, despite the fact that they’re usually working toward the same goals for the business. We can usually trace this tension back to a few key areas like contract cycle times, risk management approaches, decision-making processes, or contract negotiations. But, when procurement and legal are true...

797: Procurement 6 | April 25th, 2025

Art of Procurement

796: How Should Procurement Respond to Tariffs? W/ Richeek Maitra

Art of Procurement

“You’re not going to be able to completely eliminate your tariff exposure. There are three frames under which to think about tariffs: How will you mitigate in the short term? How will you think about it in the medium term from your customer's perspective and pricing? And how will you think about a long-term realignment of supply chains?” - Richeek Maitra, Director, AlixPartners With tariffs dominating the news cycle and sending global markets on a wild ride, procurement is scrambling to figure out the practical implications of tariffs on global supply chains and their own...

795: Procurement 6 | April 18th, 2025

Art of Procurement

BTW EP 07: Seeking Balance in Buyer-Seller Dynamics with Kate Vitasek

Art of Procurement

In this seventh episode of the “Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement” podcast series, Art of Procurement’s Philip Ideson and Fine Tune CEO Rich Ham take a deep dive into procurement history with Kate Vitasek, Faculty of Graduate and Executive Education at the University of Tennessee, and architect of the groundbreaking Vested methodology. With over 15 years of research and eight books dedicated to buyer-supplier strategic partnerships, Kate shares her insight into how procurement has traditionally tended to extract value from suppliers through power plays, as opposed to...

794: What Matters Most in Modern Procurement Hiring W/ Derek Lutz

Art of Procurement

“Procurement isn’t just a cost center; it’s a true value driver. So when they’re recruiting, CPOs and heads of procurement are looking for someone who's current and who is bringing ideas to the table. They’re not just hiring buyers anymore.” - Derek Lutz, Founder and CEO, Lean Six Search As economic and geopolitical instability sends ripples of doubt across global supply chains, the question of which procurement skills will remain valuable, as well as which ones are becoming obsolete, has never been more relevant. In this episode, host Philip Ideson talks about the...

793: Procurement 6 | April 11th, 2025

Art of Procurement

More Episodes

Long before "DOGE" became a buzzword in government efficiency, the state of Pennsylvania led a pioneering strategic procurement transformation that saved taxpayers millions… $140 million to be exact (and on a recurring basis, at that). The key to their success wasn't just smart buying strategies, but highly effective communication that helped secure executive support and turn resisters into supporters.

In this episode of Art of Procurement, Philip Ideson speaks with David Yarkin, CEO of Procurated and former Chief Procurement Officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. David brings a unique perspective influenced by his background as a former press secretary and in procurement leadership.

In this episode, David shares how he led Pennsylvania to unprecedented savings through strategic sourcing initiatives and a powerful approach to communication:

How to build support for procurement transformation, even against significant resistance, while also staying aligned with company leadership
Why supplier performance management should be a high priority for procurement and how a lack of visibility into early warning signs can lead to major failures
How procurement leaders can break through organizational barriers by getting out from behind their desks and experiencing operations firsthand

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