Understanding Coordination Drivers to Align Last-Mile Logistics with Supply Chain Objectives: A Case in the Retail Sector

Subject Areas : Transportation Analysis

Emmanuel Lara ¹ , Wilson Adarme ² , Ivan Cardenas ³

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Received: 2025-03-18 Accepted : 2025-07-05 Published : 2025-07-04

Keywords: Coordination, Coordination mechanisms, Last Mile, Logistics, Supply Chain,

Abstract :

With the boom of e-commerce, urbanization, and population growth, the complexity of the last mile in the SC has increased, forcing companies to evaluate new distribution strategies and face new logistical challenges. Coordination mechanisms appear as a solution to cope with the challenges of the last mile. However, without considering the general supply chain strategy coordination mechanisms could generate a conflict in logistics operations. Studies related to coordination mechanisms in the last mile of the supply chain have been influenced by the absence of practical applications, reflecting a need for considering the supply chain actors and their roles...  And to avoid inefficient diagnosis in the application of coordination in the supply chain.

A three-phase methodology is proposed to diagnose the needs of last-mile logistics.  In the first phase, coordination drivers are identified through a literature review and subsequently validated by industry and academia. In the second phase, the level of incidence of each driver is measured in the particular context of the company. Finally, in the third phase, coordination mechanisms are proposed to improve the performance of the supply chain according to the levels of incidence found. The proposed methodology validated in a case in the city of Bogotá. This research highlights the need to identify coordination drivers existing within the company and how well they adjust to the supply chain strategy.  The results of our study are helpful for logistics practitioners to evaluate the fitting of a coordination mechanism and their logistics needs. Additionally, for scholars, it shows how coordination can be applied in industries in a developing economy and what are the challenges to fit coordination with the context of these companies.

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