Unveiling manufacturing delays causes and implications in Sudanese industries: A study on manufacturing sector

Manufacturing delays cause significant financial losses and community disruptions, especially in developing countries. The lack of comprehensive data further complicates addressing these issues. This study investigates the causes of delays in Sudan's food and beverage industry. This exploratory and interpretative study employed semi-structured questionnaires targeting senior and general managers from 25 food and beverage companies in Sudan, focusing on supply chain, operations, and manufacturing departments. Respondents identified five main causes of manufacturing delays: government restrictions and political instability (including regulatory constraints and corruption leading to supply and technological shortages), economic factors, port customs delays, fluctuating material costs, and other indirect reasons. The findings offer unprecedented data that fill a significant literature gap on manufacturing delays in Sudan and help inform strategies to mitigate them. This study fills a research gap by examining manufacturing delays in Sudan's food and beverage industry, identifying key causes such as political instability and economic factors to inform better practices and further research. The findings may improve project timelines and overall performance in Sudan's manufacturing industry. However, since the research was conducted before the current conflict, its relevance today may be limited.