CANINE CREEK®
Dog Wash & Pet Boutique

Where dogs would shop
if they could drive! ®

CANINE CREEK
Dog Wash
& Boutique

Bill Atherton, Owner Biography

Aside from being a hard-working dog wash / retail shop owner, Bill has a career on the side as a senior industrial engineer for a pharmacy chain.  Following are his very impressive credentials...

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:
 Regional Engineering Management of three retail pharmaceutical distribution centers servicing over 1000 stores.
 Facilities & Engineering Management of two 1,000,000 ft² distribution center start-ups.
 Operations Management of a 1,000,000 ft² distribution center with 850 employees.
 Twenty years experience in the design, sale, technical project management, start-up, and operation of large scale, computer automated, material handling and inventory control systems in a myriad of manufacturing and distribution environments.

EXPERIENCE:
Rite Aid Corporation February 1997 to Present

Senior Engineer, Supply Chain – All West Coast Distribution Centers, based in Lancaster, CA.

 Responsible for all facilities engineering and project management functions for the West Coast distribution network, including capital project management of the Rite Aid owned Thrifty Ice Cream plant in Los Angeles.
 Create and execute all four facilities’ capital budgets totaling between $4 and $12 million per year.
 Set up and maintain productivity standards in all three distribution centers.
 Create, define, and refine sound facilities and productivity enhancement ideas into reality.
 Installed new conveyor and sorter controls systems in our two older facilities in FY ’05-‘06. Both projects were brought in on time, under budget, and with zero system down time. Immediate productivity returns were seen by both facilities.

Interim Production Operations Manager
Lancaster, CA Distribution Center

 While still performing the functions of the Sr. Industrial Engineer, between 8/2001 and 8/2002, was asked to take on the daily production operations management of all 850 personnel in the distribution center while the company searched for a new operations manager.
 Had five department managers and twenty assistant managers as direct reports.
 Created a daily staff planning tool to maximize labor utilization.
 Helped the company win a union vote by a 2:1 margin for management.
 Shared P&L responsibility for the distribution center’s multi-million dollar labor budget.

Sr. Industrial Engineer & Project Manager
Lancaster, CA & Perryman, MD Distribution Centers

 Co-leader of the project teams on facilities and automated material handling systems engineering, simulation, specifications, and design for both the Maryland and California start-ups.
 As the on-site Project Manager for all material handling systems, completed two start-ups with a combined value of $68 million on time and within budget. Subsequently completed three major systems additions in a similar manner.
 Through the construction of the two facilities, performed architectural reviews and integration of, fire systems, HVAC, electrical & plumbing. Worked with city and county governments on permitting issues, and managed all subcontractors for data and voice network installations.
 Directed Rite Aid maintenance managers in the set up of preventative maintenance schedules, staffing requirements, spare parts procurement, and escalation procedures.
 Acted as Engineering’s sole representative during the creation of the description of operation, design specification, and interface specification of the new facility’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) Software.
 Worked directly with the Senior VP of Distribution in negotiating all material handling equipment contracts.
 Participated in the resolution of a carpenter’s union strike during installation.
 Made numerous project progress presentations to corporate officers and staff.

Welch Equipment Company, Inc. March 1994 to February 1997
Systems Sales Engineer & Project Manager - Denver, CO

 Directed the successful sale, design, and construction of automated material handling systems in manufacturing and distribution centers both within Colorado and across North America for such customers as Apple Computer, Columbia House, Coors, Corporate Express and Quantum.
 Co-authored proposals and strategies which brought in Corporate Express as a $5 million per year national account.
 Was responsible for the design, pricing, sale, and implementation of all material handling systems requiring industrial engineering, specialty equipment engineering, PLC controls, or inventory control software.

White Storage & Retrieval Systems, Inc. July 1988 to March 1994
Project Manager - Systems Division, San Diego, California

 Reporting directly to the Executive Vice President, was the senior project manager for large, multi-site customers like United Stationers and Kmart.
 Responsible for the design, installation, integration, and final implementation of automated material handling systems with an average contract value of just under two million dollars each.
 Tasks included: sales engineering, industrial & electrical design; creation of project schedules; hiring and supervision of subcontractors; supervision of all assigned project staff; project cash flow analysis; constant customer contact; negotiation of change orders and supplemental sales; final documentation; and most importantly, creating satisfied customers.

Unisys Corporation June 1985 to July 1988
Systems Field Engineer - Shipboard & Ground Systems Group
Great Neck, New York

 Worked as the primary customer contact on the Naval Integrated Storage, Tracking & Retrieval Systems at the Naval Supply Centers in San Diego & Oakland, California.
 The work consisted of the installation, integration, testing, & software maintenance of a large Tandem mainframe-based inventory control & material handling system. Without a site supervisor, and with only two other field engineers, completed the integration of the 650,000 square foot San Diego facility in just under 6 months.
 Later, as the only Unisys representative on site, helped the Navy to determine the cause of, and recover from, a catastrophic power failure of their Tandem Mainframe at the San Diego site.

Additional Technical Skills: AutoCad; Automated Equipment & PLC Troubleshooting; Internet Retail Sales & Marketing; Microsoft Project & Timeline Project Management Software Applications; Access, Excel, Lotus, Word, and WordPerfect Office Applications; Visio and Power Point Presentation Applications; BASIC, FORTRAN, and TAL Programming.

EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Concentration in Computer Engineering.
Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York.

Dale Carnegie Graduate, Public Speaking and Communication Skills.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1998

Additional Continuing Education, Management seminars, ergonomics seminar, material handling conferences, and exhibitions, 1994-present

AWARDS:
Material Handling Institute of America (MHIA) 2004 Distribution Center of the Year – Rite Aid, Lancaster CA