Cessna's approach to internal quality audits. (Cessna Aircraft Co.)

Cessna Aircraft Co.'s adoption of a new internal quality audit system in 1994 was driven by the introduction of the Federal Aviation Administration's manufacturer surveillance program initiatives and by the company's own desire to align its quality efforts with international standards. Management suspected that the old quality program was producing less-than-satisfactory results primarily because of the firm's practice of compartmentalizing the audit function within the quality engineering department. The three other quality departments, production quality control, production quality assura