Supply management deals with the planning and coordination of materials needed in a specific location at a specific time in order to provide support to production or activity. Supply logistics must have transportation of the materials and storage along with plans in place for evaluating the level of supply during different stages of the process; making sure that the flow of materials aligns with the need.

Distribution is about managing how a supplied and stored material is then sent out to the locations where it is needed. The process includes issuing of material movement (loading, unloading and transportation), tracking of stock, and accountability of use (noting down how the supply is used and by whom).

This type of logistics management oversees the stages of combining distributed supplies into a product. This can entail coordination of a manufacturing or assembling process and in the case of applications such as military production, the logistics of coordinating space and areas for production to take place. In construction, production logistics will include the staging of material to coordinate with the phase of building taking place.

Reverse logistics management handles the recalling of material and supplies from a production of assembly process. In the logistics management of a construction project for example, reverse logistics plans for the removal of excess material and re-absorption of the material into a stock supply.