Logistics and Supply Chain Management Webster’s Dictionary defines Logistics as, “The aspect of military science dealing with the procurement, maintenance, and transportation of military material, facilities, and personnel; the handling of the details of an operation.” The importance of the concept of logistics can be easily seen in a military setting. Getting weapons, soldiers, and the like from point A to point B efficiently is of the upmost importance. In a battle scenario not doing so can cost lives. In a business setting goods must travel a clear efficient line from point A to point B. Certainly lives are not at stake as in the military, but for the business what is at stake are sales and revenue. Logistics combines an organization’s order management, inventory, transportation, warehousing, materials handling, and packaging. It is the process that creates value by timing and positioning inventory (Young, 2012). The impact of logistics can be seen when comparing the responses to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the Federal Government and private businesses. "Most skills and competencies needed to excel in logistics and supply chain management are the same skills and competencies needed to excel at disaster relief operations," said Matt Waller, associate professor of marketing and logistics at the University of Arkansas. Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation, beat the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross to areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Waller stated that the company delivered supplies quickly and efficiently because, simply put, “that's what it does every day.” Wal-Mart has mastered logistics and supply chain management, and the company's expertise in these areas worked well during the natural disaster (sdcexec, 2005). Several specific factors led to Wal-Mart's success in shipping supplies to Katrina's victims,