On paper it is almost impossible to know where permits are waiting, since nobody records when a permit arrived at each approver and when it left. Operators just know they spent the morning waiting for a permit before they could start work.
A digital permit records a timestamp at every stage, which makes it easy to see where the time goes, whether it is waiting for a gas test, waiting for an area authority or waiting for a final sign off. Once you can see that, you can fix the specific stage that is slow, like adding a second approver for busy shifts, instead of guessing.