Customer Service Manager

STEVEN L. BURGESS

*** ********* *****

Dover, OH 44622

Home: 330-***-**** Cell: 330-***-****

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Accomplished manager trained in a Fortune 300 company. Experienced in Safety and Environmental as well as

Manufacturing. Recognized by senior management with 6 Special Recognition Awards for efforts and accomplishments in

support of initiatives and delivery of desired results. Proven ability to:

• Develop, implement, and complete strategies and action plans to support business objectives.

• Lead efforts across organizational units to improve and maintain personnel and vehicle safety incident rates at world

class levels in the chemical industry.

• Coach and motivate hourly personnel and management peers to achieve buy-in for established goals as well as to

standardize procedures and practices.

• Use leading indicators to understand current status of issues and to manage to desired short and long term goals.

• Implement critical thinking and decision making processes (Root Cause Analysis, Process Hazard Analysis, and Six Sigma)

to quickly analyze issues and initiate effective corrective actions.

EXPERIENCE

PRAXAIR, INC., Danbury, CT 1988 – 2009

Fortune 300 company (#249) with 2008 sales of $10.8B and approximately 27,000 employees in 30 countries.

Manager, Safety and Environmental Services

(Merchant Supply Group, North America Industrial Gases) 2000-2009

Oversaw personnel and transportation (vehicle) safety of 170 employees, including 145 Customer Service Technicians

supporting approximately 8,000 customers through 6 customer service centers across the country. Service centers located in

Keasbey, NJ; Youngstown, OH; Huntsville, AL; Houston, TX; East Chicago, IN; and Fontana, CA. Wrote and issued business

group specific policies and procedures to address and assure compliance with corporate requirements. Interfaced weekly with

corporate functional groups (Legal, Human Resources, and Sales). Wrote business cases, made presentations and facilitated

action plans for procedural improvement changes at Praxair facilities and customer site installations.

• Achieved and maintained industry best lost workday and recordable injury incident rates of less than 1.00 per 100

employees.

• Achieved and maintained vehicle incident rates of less than 2.00 / M miles driven, also best in class.

• Passed all inspections and audits from OEPA/U.S. EPA (12), OSHA (4) and U.S. DOT (2) at Praxair facilities or Praxair

installations at customer sites.

• Reduced preventable service vehicle backing accidents by 92% through the implementation of a safety cone policy.

• Attained zero repeatable accidents/incidents through the facilitation of accident investigations for personnel, transportation

and process events using Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodology.

• Successfully passed 4 of 4 corporate functional assessments at customer service centers over the past 6 years. Each

assessment was a 2-week process involving 4-6 onsite assessors.

• Received best possible rating on each of 4 audits by Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation for case management and file

management for events involving workers compensation claims as Praxair was self insured in Ohio.

• Met or exceeded corporate compliance targets through creation and presentation of training programs and process aids for

topics including personnel, transportation, process, and environmental safety.

• Designed and created “Safety Standdown Day” materials for 2005 and 2006 which were presented at all Praxair locations

worldwide.

STEVEN L. BURGESS PAGE TWO

PRAXAIR, INC. continued

Field Specialist, Safety and Environmental Services 1988-2000

(Eastern Region, North America Industrial Gases)

Provided safety and environmental support and training, and overall operations consultation to 12 Praxair facilities and over 300

customer installations in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Operations supported included air separation plants (oxygen

and nitrogen), process/pipeline plants (hydrogen and carbon monoxide), distribution by tractor-trailer and rail cars, customer

service, sales and Praxair subsidiary businesses in the region.

• Achieved zero accidents, injuries and events through the successful managing of the integration of 4 large facilities

following Praxair’s acquisition of Liquid Carbonic Corporation.

• Attained 100% safety and environmental compliance, resulting in all supported facilities receiving the “Chairman’s

Safety Award” for 12 consecutive years.

EVERHARD PRODUCTS, INC., Canton, OH 1986 – 1988

Closely held corporation operating as a precision sheet-metal fabricator with 1988 sales of $7M and 60 employees.

Manufacturing Manager

Directed all phases of manufacturing including personnel, raw material purchases, work-in-process, quality control, painting

and finishing, final quality control, packaging and shipping, and customer support. Managed 5 working supervisors as part of a

team of approximately 40 production employees.

• Increased efficiencies by approximately 30% throughout the manufacturing process by implementing Critical Path

scheduling.

• Reduced production lead-time for top 4 customers by an average of 38%, resulting in increased sales of approximately

$100,000 from each.

• Won $355K contract by re-designing components which allowed for more efficient manufacturing. Results included

increased profits for Everhard Products in addition to a reduction in costs for the customer.

PRIOR EXPERIENCE

• Served as Plant Superintendent for manufacturer of industrial vacuum systems which generated annual sales of $2M.

• Reduced number of vendors, saving approximately $300K on a $1.2M budget, while working as Purchasing and Office

Manager supervising 5 office employees in a fast-paced manufacturing operation.

EDUCATION / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

BA, Business Management, Malone University, Canton, OH - 2010 anticipated completion date

AAS, Business Management, Stark Technical College, Canton, OH

Certifications

• Root Cause Analysis Facilitator – Apollo Associated Services, Midland, MI

• Defensive Driver Trainer – Smith System Driver Improvement Institute, Arlington, TX

• Safety and Health Assessment Processes – A. D. Little, Boston, MA

• Driver Safety Program Instructor – American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washington, DC

In excess of 2,000 hours of additional company-sponsored training and education on topics including

• Six Sigma

• Process Hazard Analysis (Certified Facilitator)

• Evidence Collection and Vehicle Accident Reconstruction

• Annual OSHA 10 and 30 hour training on Personnel Safety and Construction Safety.

• Human Resource, Management and Supervisory Practices (hiring, evaluation, coaching, discipline, discharge, drug and

alcohol awareness, labor laws, benefits.

Contact this candidate