A Novel Stress Testing Framework for Assessing and Optimizing Emergency Material Supply Chains: A Case Study of Ibuprofen Emergency Production Under Extraordinary Demand Surges

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Novel Stress Testing Framework for Assessing and Optimizing Emergency Material Supply Chains

T2 - A Case Study of Ibuprofen Emergency Production Under Extraordinary Demand Surges

AU - Chen, Qiming

AU - Zhang, Jihai

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 by the authors.

PY - 2026/4

Y1 - 2026/4

N2 - Extraordinary emergencies trigger disruptive demand surges that frequently exceed the operational limits of existing supply chains. While traditional studies focus on optimizing stock resource efficiency, the mobilization of emergency production to generate incremental resources is critical under extreme shocks. However, a standardized methodology for assessing the “stress tolerance limit” of emergency material supply chains (EMSCs) remains lacking. This paper establishes a theoretical framework for EMSC stress testing, integrating conceptual definitions, operational mechanisms, and a standardized implementation procedure. To demonstrate its practical applicability, a multi-objective mathematical model is developed and applied to a case study of ibuprofen production during a sudden crisis. By identifying structural bottlenecks such as production latency and supply lead-time gaps, the results validate that the proposed framework provides a reproducible quantitative approach for evaluating EMSC supply capacity. This study offers guidance for prepositioned inventory and dynamic capacity reserve, fundamentally enhancing societal risk mitigation capabilities under extreme stress.

AB - Extraordinary emergencies trigger disruptive demand surges that frequently exceed the operational limits of existing supply chains. While traditional studies focus on optimizing stock resource efficiency, the mobilization of emergency production to generate incremental resources is critical under extreme shocks. However, a standardized methodology for assessing the “stress tolerance limit” of emergency material supply chains (EMSCs) remains lacking. This paper establishes a theoretical framework for EMSC stress testing, integrating conceptual definitions, operational mechanisms, and a standardized implementation procedure. To demonstrate its practical applicability, a multi-objective mathematical model is developed and applied to a case study of ibuprofen production during a sudden crisis. By identifying structural bottlenecks such as production latency and supply lead-time gaps, the results validate that the proposed framework provides a reproducible quantitative approach for evaluating EMSC supply capacity. This study offers guidance for prepositioned inventory and dynamic capacity reserve, fundamentally enhancing societal risk mitigation capabilities under extreme stress.

KW - emergency material supply chains

KW - emergency production mobilization

KW - extraordinary emergencies

KW - stress testing framework

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037238194

U2 - 10.3390/systems14040352

DO - 10.3390/systems14040352

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105037238194

SN - 2079-8954

VL - 14

JO - Systems

JF - Systems

IS - 4

M1 - 352

ER -