Analysing Procurement-Driven Project Delays under Approval and Cash Flow Constraints in a Project-Based Manufacturing Company

Agnes Fredrika Watulingas, Luluk Lusiantoro, S.E., M.Sc., Ph.D.

2026 | Tesis | S2 Manajemen

This research explores the procurement-based project delays under the approval and cash flow constraints in a project-based manufacturing setting at PT Labtech Penta International. The research seeks to identify the procurement categories and materials that produce the greatest schedule slippage and to explain how internal processes, approval hierarchies and liquidity constraints cumulatively extend procurement lead times and shipment dates. The design was primarily qualitative with content analysis of minutes of meetings and project archives, delay metrics, approval timestamp data, cash flow analysis, focus group discussions, fishbone root cause analysis and an integrated causal model. The triangulated results demonstrate that procurement delay is a systemic phenomenon emanating from five interacting root systems: procurement planning and MRP readiness, supplier lead time and reliability, design and specification stability, internal approval governance and cash flow readiness. Such systems generate intermediate mechanisms like late purchase order release, approval and payment dwell time, supplier ETA uncertainty, and delayed material availability, which then translate into production schedule pressure, confirmed shipment delay, and late project delivery. Findings support theories of supply chain integration and purchasing portfolio by showing that project delivery performance depends on the synchronisation of information, material and financial flows and differentiated management of critical, high-impact procurement items. The managerial implications are the need to streamline approval structures, to stabilize specifications, to improve cash flow planning, and to prioritize strategic and bottleneck procurement categories to reduce schedule risk. 

This research explores the procurement-based project delays under the approval and cash flow constraints in a project-based manufacturing setting at PT Labtech Penta International. The research seeks to identify the procurement categories and materials that produce the greatest schedule slippage and to explain how internal processes, approval hierarchies and liquidity constraints cumulatively extend procurement lead times and shipment dates. The design was primarily qualitative with content analysis of minutes of meetings and project archives, delay metrics, approval timestamp data, cash flow analysis, focus group discussions, fishbone root cause analysis and an integrated causal model. The triangulated results demonstrate that procurement delay is a systemic phenomenon emanating from five interacting root systems: procurement planning and MRP readiness, supplier lead time and reliability, design and specification stability, internal approval governance and cash flow readiness. Such systems generate intermediate mechanisms like late purchase order release, approval and payment dwell time, supplier ETA uncertainty, and delayed material availability, which then translate into production schedule pressure, confirmed shipment delay, and late project delivery. Findings support theories of supply chain integration and purchasing portfolio by showing that project delivery performance depends on the synchronisation of information, material and financial flows and differentiated management of critical, high-impact procurement items. The managerial implications are the need to streamline approval structures, to stabilize specifications, to improve cash flow planning, and to prioritize strategic and bottleneck procurement categories to reduce schedule risk. 

Kata Kunci : procurement delay, project-based manufacturing, approval constraint, cash flow constraint, supply chain integration