What performance metrics / key performance indicators do you use to help monitor and manage operational quality for receiving, in-process and final inspection within your manufacturing environment?

Agreed, Len. What are you manufacturing? The thing to remember about KPI's is that they are really customized to the context for which they're being applied. There are several models for creating proper KPIs. You may want to read "How to Measure Anything" by Douglas W Hubbard. Also, Ron Person published an excellent book for those using Excel to design, capture and report on KPI's (Balanced Scorecards and Operational Dashboards with MS Excel).