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Frank Degar is the president of Pillar Management Associates, a process improvement and ISO consulting firm. Frank's varied background gives him a unique perspective in the consulting and training process. Frank started his career as an electrical engineer for a large tier one automotive supplier. He then joined Whirlpool Corporation as a Senior Development Engineer. He left to start his own plastic molding company that grew to three facilities in ten years and also became a tier one automotive supplier. After selling his firm he spent ten years as a management consultant specializing in reestablishing troubled companies. In conjunction with this activity he has owned a construction firm, a distributorship and a computer systems reseller.

Frank then joined the University of South Carolina as the Associate Director of a NIST sponsored program called the Southeast Manufacturing Technology Center (SMTC) which helped small manufacturers become more competitive. He subsequently was asked to create an accredited registrar and was the co-creator of American Quality Assessors (AQA), a ANAB accredited registrar. He was the Executive Director of AQA until early 1997 when he and his partner formed Pillar Management Associates.

Frank is a RABQSA certified management systems lead auditor with over 400 audits, 60 of which were TS16949 and 10 are ISO 14001. Frank is recognized as an international expert in his field and has audited, consulted and trained in 12 countries including Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Egypt, China, Japan, Bulgaria, Costa Rica and India plus in North and Central America. He speaks regularly at several universities around the world. He was instrumental in establishing two additional accredited registrars for whom he conducts audits. In addition, he has created and conducts accredited lead auditor courses for  ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001/Z10 and ISO 14001. Frank has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Syracuse.

Carol Robinson is the vice president of Pillar Management Associates, a process improvement and ISO 9001 consulting firm. Her background is primarily in quality systems and manufacturing engineering.

Carol started her career as a manufacturing engineer for Dana Corporation, a Fortune 500 tier 1 automotive supplier where she also held the position of Quality Assurance Manager. She then joined AMBAC International as a Senior Quality Engineer. Carol then joined the University of South Carolina as the Associate Technical Director of a NIST sponsored program called the Southeast Manufacturing Technology Center (SMTC) which helped small manufacturers become more competitive. She subsequently was asked to create an accredited ISO registrar and was the co-creator of American Quality Assessors (AQA), an ANAB accredited registrar. She was the Director of Registration at AQA until early 1997 when she and her partner formed Pillar Management Associates.

Carol is a RABQSA certified quality systems lead auditor with over 125 audits. She is a TS16949 and ISO 9001 qualified lead auditor and ASQC CQE and CQA. In addition, she is a qualified trainer for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 lead auditor courses and has facilitated the registration of a large firm with over 5000 employees in twelve international locations. Additionally she has assisted over 25 firms in attaining registration. She has a B.S. Industrial Engineering from the University of Toledo and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

PILLAR MANAGEMENT IS A PROVIDER OF RABQSA CERTIFIED LEAD AUDITOR TRAINING

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