Operational Supply Readiness in Critical Industrial Procurement: A Sequential Admissibility Framework for Feasibility, Timing, and Economic Selection

Abstract

Critical industrial procurement decisions frequently involve criteria that differ not only in importance but also in decision function. Technical compatibility, source capability, mandatory compliance, logistics executability, timing, and economic attractiveness cannot always be treated as mutually compensatory attributes within a single weighted comparison. An inexpensive alternative may be technically unsuitable; a technically acceptable option may lack an executable supply path; and an otherwise feasible alternative may be incapable of becoming usable before the operational requirement arises. This article formalizes sequential admissibility as the decision architecture underlying Operational Supply Readiness (OSR) in critical industrial procurement.The proposed framework distinguishes three decision stages. First, supply alternatives are screened through four mandatory feasibility domains: Technical Fit, Source Capability, Compliance Readiness, and Logistics Executability. Second, feasible alternatives are evaluated for temporal admissibility through the Readiness Margin (RM), defined as the difference between the time available before the Operational Need Date and the credible end-to-end time required to achieve Usable Supply. Third, economic comparison is performed only among alternatives that remain operationally admissible after feasibility and readiness assessment.The article positions this architecture relative to established research on supplier selection and qualification, non-compensatory decision methods, lead-time protection, supply-chain risk and resilience, and Total Cost of Ownership. The proposed contribution does not rest on treating these individual concepts as new. Rather, it lies in formalizing their decision order through nested admissible sets: mandatory feasibility first, temporal admissibility second, and economic optimization only among alternatives that remain operationally admissible.The article formalizes the decision structure, develops design propositions and empirically testable hypotheses, and identifies the prospective data required for future validation of the Readiness Margin and related OSR constructs. Статья 1. Operational Supply Re…