What holds things up?

I just read in the paper that after the Department of Defense decided to send U.S. troops more bulletproof vests, it took about 167 days for the troops to begin receiving them. Soldiers who ordered them directly from the Michigan manufacturer got theirs in about 12 days. This mimics my experience when I had a job ordering books for the W.J. Niederkorn Library in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Books ordered from the U.S. Government Printing Office came in dead last. I wonder exactly what it is about government that causes this molasses effect.