tucumseh,
You put it succinctly however most people do not know the ropes.
We needed a GPS. Command approved our case. By chance a chap visited the unit with service supply item. I copied the sec & ref and then we entered the red tape circuit.
We tracked down the IPT. We found out what we had to do. The man at Command had moved on. The man at the IPT was gapped or some such. We went round the buoy 3 times at least until eventually a staff officer was in place and he contacted the man at the IPT and the paperwork was squared away.
The supply chain 'sprang' into action - and nothing happened.
I chased the IPT; he chased supply; the GPS was in stores waiting to be collected; no one had told us it was there. It took about 2 years all told from need to getting my hands on it.
Of the 5 unts demanded for 5 units I have no idea if they all arrived!