Well - Management sets the 'tone' for quality - IF they know what it is, they might set a good tone - too many times they don't unfortunately. In my career I've been told - "We really need those in assembly" - to which I replied - "Well, they're not right, you can sign them off but I won't" - this was to the owner of the business - he didn't like me anymore but did respect me, and did have the parts reworked so they met requirements...also, a President once took me by the hand on machinery that was not producing acceptable output to specifications (of the customer and internal) - he said "you know, we really need to use 'common sense' on this" to which I replied "okay, and the unit is not producing the part to specification that we create and agreed w/our customers we would supply so whats not common sense about us (quality) not signing it off - you can ship it but I'm not signing for it" - didn't last there too much longer, but my skills and integrity are way more important - I'm not standing on the premise of false princible here - if we don't meet requirements, change them or meet them - very simple and Black and White - no gray there...

So let's get back on topic - Quality begins with people, not things...I'm certain the Karmann folks care about quality - it shows in my vehicle I'm convinced...