Logistics means everything to do with co-ordination. Bringing together needed materials from a myriad of places, storing them, handling them, organizing them, and shipping them.

Let's say you are wearing running shoes imported from Taiwan, made of leather and manmade materials. The soles may have been manufactured from synthetics made in India and formed into soles in Malaysia, then sent to Taiwan. The uppers may be leather from cattle raised in Argentina, cut in China, and sewn to the soles in Taiwan. The laces may be manufactured in Romania. The tongue may be made from synthetics in India, but sewn in Pakistan.

The pieces are manufactured into the final product in Taiwan, and trucked to a port where they are shipped via ocean container to say, Vancouver. From there they go by train to Calgary, where they are unloaded into a warehouse for a large retail chain. As stores place orders, the shoes are shipped out to a store and eventually land in your hands at the cashier.

Many people from many companies are involved, and phone calls and emails fly between them as they make sure the products reach the consumer. The entire time a product is not being made and not in your hands, it's undergoing the process of logistics.