Choosing a garment-industry project

Learning objectives

• Screen candidate garment-industry projects against explicit criteria.
• Reject unowned or predetermined-solution topics before charter.
• Validate the chosen problem at gemba before committing resources.

Screening fields

• Evidence the problem exists (data or customer signal)
• CTQ / Y and baseline-to-target gap
• Strategic, customer, safety or compliance relevance
• Benefit potential (hard and soft)
• Scope and control by the sponsoring unit
• Data availability and measurement feasibility
• Sponsor and process owner named
• Resources, risk and duration

Copy-friendly candidate funnel checklist

• List candidates
• Remove mandatory quick fixes and non-projects
• Score each candidate on the fields above
• Validate top 3 at gemba
• Confirm sponsor and process owner
• Draft charter for the chosen project

Garment-factory example

End-line DHU for two shirt lines is chosen over a vague 'improve quality' idea because it has a measured baseline, a named process owner, achievable data collection and buyer-visible benefit.

Method

1. Build a funnel of 5–10 candidates before choosing.
2. Score with the whole team, not alone.
3. Walk the process before the charter is signed.

Common mistakes

• Selecting a predetermined solution instead of a problem.
• Choosing an unowned enterprise-wide topic no team can influence.
• Setting a target with no baseline behind it.