logistics

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The aspect of military operations that deals with the procurement, distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and personnel.
• noun The management of the details of an operation.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Same as logistic, especially in sense .
• noun That branch of military science which relates to the movement and supplying of armies, and all arrangements necessary for and matters connected with the carrying on of campaigns, including the study of present or possible fields of war in their topographical and other relations; according to some, the science of strategy and arms in general.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Mil.) That branch of the military art which embraces the details of moving and supplying armies. The meaning of the word is by some writers extended to include strategy.
• noun The planning and coordination of the movement of materials, and other details of any large activity, such as a business or a political campaign.
• noun (Math.) A system of arithmetic, in which numbers are expressed in a scale of 60; logistic arithmetic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Plural form of logistic.
• noun operations The process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services and related information from their point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of satisfying customer requirements.
• noun military The procurement, supply, maintenance, and transportation of equipment, facilities, and personnel.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun handling an operation that involves providing labor and materials be supplied as needed