What does ‘logistics’ mean, Yahoo Answers

What does ‘logistics’ mean? Logistics is a branch of management that deals with moving people, supplies, information, etc. from one place to another. Let's say you sell coffee. You start with production. You have to get people to get the coffee. Then you have to get people to package the coffee. To get the coffee to the packaging plant requires some form of transportation - trucking, an airplane, a boat. That's part one of logistics. At the packaging plant, after everything is packaged, you once again have to get the product from the packaging plant to the stores. Once again, that deals with logistics. How are you going to get it there? How much will be shipped to each store? Are you going to store the coffee in a warehouse until delivery? What do you do with any excess packages that the stores refuse? Are you owning all of the means of production and transport or are you getting a third party trucking company to deliver? Stuff like that. You have to have the right item in the right place at the right time in the right condition to the right customer - that's pretty much the goal of logistics.