Driven by passion, vision and innovation, Jody Toman brings to Carbon Steel Inspection Inc. (CSI) more than 31 years of in-depth knowledge and experience in the nuclear, fossil and industrial energy sectors. His extensive technical experience allied with excellent communication and presentation skills commissions him in helping clients achieve their unique business goals.

Though the West Coast is a far cry from small-town Pennsylvania, Toman has impacted the industry coast-to-coast, making the two — the West Coast, his current work home base and the East Coast, which he calls home — less of a stretch and more of an indicator of his eventful, yet still unfolding career journey.

As operations manager for CSI based out of the company’s Benicia, Calif., office, Toman wears many hats. He is responsible for planning, coordinating and managing daily operations, as well as supervising and performing NDT activities, in the nuclear, petrochemical, power generation and industrial sectors.

“My position here is unique compared to other corporations I have worked for,” Toman said. “At CSI, we are committed to developing interpersonal relationships with our customers. Instead of dealing with organizations that departmentalize, we individualize.”

For customers, this means that Toman — who said he believes accountability and ownership are lost in the conglomerate business environment — is the prime point of contact throughout the entire process — analyzing, consulting, designing, engineering and executing solutions.

“I am the guy who shows up at 3 a.m. when there is a problem,” he said.

“I really got into NDE by accident,” he said. “Westinghouse Electric Corp. was looking for technicians to support their growing nuclear service division, so I took the job. I knew right away that this was the field for me.”

In his seven years at Westinghouse as a nuclear service technician, Toman traveled to multiple nuclear plants performing primarily steam generator eddy current examinations and repair.

“I was able to experience cutting-edge technology as well as specialized training, both of which were invaluable,” he said.

After Westinghouse laid the foundation for his success, Toman then accepted a position with another corporation, where he stayed for 19 years. He started with five associates in the NDE department, and by the time he left, it had flourished into one of the major suppliers of nuclear balance of plant NDE services in the United States.

“We took the technology from the steam generator examinations and applied it to our balance of plant examinations,” Toman said. “Our goal was to constantly improve our service, and we accomplished this through customer feedback as well as internal critiques.”

In addition, Toman said the extensive field experience, professionalism and safety awareness he learned in that position, remains with him today. Among the things of which Toman is most proud is his conservative figure of more than 25,000 accrued accident-free field hours. “I’m very safety oriented, with an impeccable 24-year safety record,” he said.

In May 2006, Toman joined CSI, and from the beginning, felt that it was a good fit.

“I had known [President] Gary [Kroner] for years on a professional level and admired his work ethic and the amount of technology that CSI develops,” Toman said. “Being here allows me to merge my experience with CSI’s technology to provide innovation to my customers.”

Since joining CSI, Toman has assisted in addressing the problem of eroded tube supports and corresponding shell degradation. The subsequent study led to the development of specialized technology and methodology, and CSI will be presenting a paper on it this summer.

Toman believes his attitude and commitment — coupled with learning the craft from the ground up — have been integral keys to his success.

“I have to attribute pre-job planning and strong customer service skills with having kept me at the forefront of my field,” he said. 

Toman also believes that preparation is the key, and that there is no such thing as being over prepared. Outages that may prove daunting for some are mere challenges for Toman. For instance, he possesses a talent for running large projects on tight schedules with anywhere from 10-50 technicians.

Employee empowerment is a virtue to Toman — he believes that the secret to managerial success is to “place people in the right position, recognize their attributes, give them the tools they need to succeed and then give them responsibility. It is human nature to want to succeed.”

To learn more, call (412) 826-3755 or visit www.carbonsteelinspection.com.