2.2 Feasibility of Internal Customer Requests (Task 1-A-2)

Feasibility of Internal Customer Requests (Task 1-A-2)

Exam focus: Task 1-A-2 (~3 scored questions) tests whether you can analyze and advise on feasibility. The right answer usually combines a clear constraint diagnosis with constructive alternatives—not a hard “no” without options or a rubber-stamp “yes.”

After needs are clarified, supply professionals must answer a blunt question: Can we actually do this—on time, within budget, within policy, and with available supply capacity? Feasibility work protects the organization from commitments that will fail in execution and protects stakeholders from discovering constraints too late.

What Feasibility Means in Supply Management

Feasibility is not a feeling. It is an evidence-based assessment across several dimensions:

A request can be technically possible yet infeasible for the business—for example, a specialty alloy exists globally, but only from a sanctioned region or at triple the approved budget with no timeline left for qualification.

Analyze Before You Advise

Start from the validated need (Task 1-A-1), then pressure-test assumptions:

1. Restate the outcome the stakeholder needs in measurable terms.
2. Identify which constraints are hard (illegal, unsafe, physically impossible, or above absolute funding) versus soft (aggressive preference, optimistic schedule).
3. Gather quick market and internal data—do not invent feasibility from memory alone.
4. Score the request: feasible as stated, feasible with changes, or not feasible.
5. Prepare advice that includes why and what else could work.

Scenario: Marketing wants custom trade-show booths in six weeks for three continents, fixed design, and a budget based on last year’s local printer rates. Capacity and timing analysis shows fabricators are booked; freight alone consumes two weeks; the budget is 40% below current market. Feasible path: modular rental kits from regional suppliers, simplified graphics, and a phased presence—not the original custom build.

Advising Internal Customers

Your role is advisor, not order-taker and not gatekeeper for ego reasons. Strong advisories share three traits:

• Transparent: name the binding constraint (cost, lead time, policy) with evidence.
• Option-rich: present at least two workable paths when the original ask fails.
• Decision-ready: clarify what the stakeholder must choose and by when.

Useful alternative frames when the original request is weak:

• Rescope — drop noncritical wants; keep mandatory needs.
• Retimed — split delivery, use interim solution, or move the event date.
• Substitute — different material, service model, or commercial structure (lease vs. buy).
• Phased — pilot now, full rollout after capacity opens.
• Policy path — exception request with risk acceptance when policy allows escalation.

Avoid these advisor failures:

• Saying “no” without alternatives (destroys trust; stakeholders go maverick).
• Saying “yes” when market capacity or policy makes delivery impossible (creates bigger failure later).
• Negotiating supplier price before confirming the request itself is feasible and authorized.

Cost, Timing, Capacity, Policy, and Market in Practice

Cost

Compare the request’s budget to realistic acquisition and ownership cost. Include tooling, change orders, training, inventory, and exit costs when relevant. If budget is fixed, feasibility may require value engineering rather than “find a cheaper identical item.”

Timing

Add internal cycle time (intake, bid, legal, onboarding) to supplier lead time. Stakeholders often quote only manufacturing days. A “two-week buy” that needs a three-week competitive bid and legal review is not feasible as a full bid—method choice (Task 1-A-4) may need to change, or the date must move.

Capacity

Check both sides: Can the supplier produce? Can receiving, IT, or operations absorb the delivery? A feasible PO that crashes the warehouse is still an organizational miss.

Policy

Policy constraints include competitive bidding thresholds, conflict-of-interest rules, approved-vendor requirements, data residency, and insurance minimums. Policy can make an otherwise available source infeasible until exceptions are granted through governance.

Market

Shortages, consolidation, tariffs, and qualification cycles change feasibility overnight. Advise on market reality even when the stakeholder is emotionally attached to a date.

Documenting the Advisory Outcome

Close the loop in writing: restated need, feasibility rating, binding constraints, options considered, recommended path, residual risks, and required decisions/approvals. This record supports governance, protects against “I thought you said yes,” and creates continuity if another buyer inherits the request. When leadership accepts a stretched plan, document who accepted which risks and what trigger will force a revisit (missed milestone, cost overrun, quality escape).

Exam Traps Candidates Miss

• Treating feasibility as a pure price check and ignoring lead time or policy.
• Assuming the loudest deadline is fixed when the business can retime or rescope.
• Offering only “buy it anyway” or “reject the request” with no middle path.
• Confusing personal disagreement with a stakeholder for a true feasibility constraint.
• Forgetting that advising includes documenting residual risk when leadership accepts a stretched plan.
• Analyzing supplier quotes before confirming the internal request is authorized and achievable.

On the exam, when a vignette shows an aggressive internal ask, look for the answer that diagnoses the binding constraint and proposes a workable alternative that still advances the business need.