The 5.11 Tactical Series Technical Design Team is a team of individuals that work exclusively on the technical specifications of the products that 5.11 produces. The team’s members then divide the product lines into two sets of divisions, hard lines and apparel, and then divide those into subsections between each other so that a certain individual in the team works specifically on a certain product group. The team’s position in the larger picture of the organization is that they take a product design that has come down through the proper channels and creates a “blueprint,” or technical specifications, for the product and sends that to the manufacturer. After a manufacturer creates a prototype which is then returned to the technical design team to “tear it apart,” this means that they actually try to tear apart the product and look for faults in its design and try to rectify any that they may find. While in this process the team looks to verify the durability, the seams are stitched a proper way, and other quality control issues that may arise. This process ensures that their company is able to provide the best quality of products to the end consumers.
The technical design team has been a working progress for the last few years acquiring their latest member back in August of 2011. Their dependence upon each other though has been strong throughout. Speaking with them they shared with us about how their tasks makes and allows them to depend on each other for information and support even when it is out of their normal scope. For example they have certain individuals that work mainly on the women’s line of clothing that needs to depend on others that work on the men’s line as well as the outerwear and boots. Their dependence upon each other has strongly aided to their cohesion based upon the free flow of information from member to member and the strength and amount of communication that is needed in their daily tasks.
Each member on the team processes their own strengths that vary from the other members and that adds to the total strength of the team. As stated prior they depend heavily on each other’s strengths so that the overall goal of the team will be achieved and measured as a success for them and the company. Getting products from idea into development and finally to manufacturing is their ultimate goal of the team and the quicker this happens the better the measure of success for them. The team does depend highly on the collaboration of the unit and the company. Having collaboration and enthusiasm for the products and the goals of the company heavily aides into the teams overall success as well. The team also feels that they have benefited heavily from the pool of information and the bouncing of ideas off of each other. The collaboration levels for this team are viewed by all members at high levels and appreciated by them all as well.
Lives depend on the quality and the durability of their products. With that idea in mind the organization and the team align their goals mainly on the quality of the products that are distributed. As the team told us without the high quality of the products those products would not have a sustainable market, and without that the company’s profitability would then suffer. As far as the overall picture the team feels that they fit into the middle ground between the organization and the manufacturer. They are able to take the idea of the product that is approved of and designed as they play the go between roles to the manufacturer. They do this by developing the technical specifications that are needed by the manufacturers and also rechecking the quality of the finished product that is essential to the success of the organization.
The organization itself though allows this team to work very independently and fluidly. They feel that the autonomy and “all hands on deck” atmosphere there allow them to accomplish more. Yet their specialty also creates a buffer so that anyone who does share their skill sets would normally already be on their team because of the specificity, which then no one else in the organization could really be brought in and all new members would most likely be external or referral from prior experiences. The team also enjoys the family oriented and more coworker involved activities. Being all transplants into the Modesto area helped them create a bond between each other and which in turn helped strengthen their team dynamic.