Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................. 8

HISTORY OF THE DABBAWALA’S..............................................................................................9

THE NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS CHARITY TRUST....................11

DABBAWALA NETWORK COVERAGE.................................................................................13

OPERATIONS PROFILE OF THE DABBAWALAS...............................................................14

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE...............................................................................16

THE CODING SYSTEM.................................................................................................................20

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY IN DETAIL..............................................................................26

WORKING LOGIC OF THE DABBAWALA..........................................................................38

SIX SIGMA AND THE DABBAWALAS...................................................................................39

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS.................................................................................................41

ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY, GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY..............................46

UNIQUE FACTORS......................................................................................................................... 49

MEETING THE DABBAWALA..................................................................................................51

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR DABBAWALAS................................................................................52

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................56

7

INTRODUCTION

The Bombay Dabbawalas operation is widely recognized as an outstanding example of

excellence in Logistics. It is often quoted as a standard example of six sigma implementation in

the Indian context. Because of its popularity Prince Charles of the United Kingdom paid a visit

to the operations site during his official visit to India in 2003. Bombay Dabbawala's Operations

(BDO) is a home grown model, conceived, developed and perfected by a group of individuals

who have very little or no formal education in the area of Logistics. BDO is operated by a

group of 5000 individuals organized in the form of a cooperative, delivering everyday 150,000

lunch boxes from home to customer locations in Bombay with negligible error rate. BDO is

recognized as an outstanding example of excellence in service delivery. BDO is the most

talked about Indian example of excellence in logistics operations.

Several academic institutions routinely invite the Bombay Dabbawala representatives to

make formal presentations in their campus to complement and enhance their academic content

of their respective programmes. Often, senior management meetings find it useful to have a

presentation on BDO to illustrate the applicability of six sigma in Indian context and inspire

managers to adopt and practice world class systems. The popular business press has been

publishing material on BDO from time to time. The Forbes journal had an article on BDO.

Recently the Alliance Air Official Inflight Magazine had an article on BDO. Top ranking

management schools like Harvard Business School have documented BDO as case material for

teaching purposes. Prince Charles of United Kingdom, as a mark of appreciation visited the

Bombay Dabbawalas' work location during his visit to Bombay in 2003.

The organization is really a marvel because it achieves a high level of efficiency and

performance without any documentation, without computers and without an educational work

8

force. Yet they are the ultimate practitioners of logistic management. They have been

practicing hub and spoke system, just-in-time tactics, no inventory policy and supply chain

management principles even before these terms were even coined. Leaving thefts apart, these

dabbawala’s make a mistake only one every two months. I.e. one error in every 8 million

deliveries, making it one of a kind ‘Six Sigma’ supply chain in India. The six sigma

principle was devised by Motorola for rating operational efficiency in terms of the number of

errors that occur in a series of transactions or activities. In case of dabbawala’s, one error

occurs in every 6 million transactions!! This puts it at par with the likes of Motorola and

G.E. such efficiency is marvelled by various organizations and institutions across the globe.

Most organizations and enterprise would only aspire to be at this level of efficiency that the

dabbawala’s operate on The organization works on a ‘Work is Worship’ philosophy, which is

the traditional Indian practice. They respect food and therefore, there is no misuse of food,

timely delivery is important because it is an individual’s basic need for food at that time. The

dabbawala’s have never gone on a strike since they went into business! Thus, for all of the

above reasons, the community of businessmen, workers, employees and students know the

dabbawala’s as their fuel suppliers.

As it is popularly said in Mumbai, ‘If the local train is the lifeline of the city then

the dabbawala’s are the food line’. But there are a lot of aspects that need to be known about

the dabbawala’s, in order to find out why they are so important as a case study in management

schools and as a unique traditional system of Indian management which has to be given its due

recognition. Therefore, let us now take upon each of these aspects of this process.

9

HISTORY OF THE DABBAWALA’S

The dabbawala service had begun informally in Mumbai. According to Raghunath

Medge: A Parsi banker working in Ballad Pier employed a young man who came down from

Poona district to fetch his lunch everyday. Business picked up through referrals and soon our

pioneer dabba-carrying entrepreneur had to call for more helping hands from his village. Such

was the origin of dabbawala’s.

However trivial the task may sound it is of vital importance since havoc is caused if the

client has to skip his home-cooked meal or worse, carry his on dabba in theever so crowded

Mumbai trains during the rush hour.

By the early 20th century, people from all part of India were migrating to Mumbai in

large numbers. Once they found a source of livelihood and settled down they wanted home

cooked food at their workplace. Home-cooked food had a comfort level for various reasons.

First, the food was cooked in the ambience of a domestic kitchen, with recipes that were tried

and tested, and that resulted in familiar fare. Second, home-cooked food was comparatively

inexpensive. The dabbawala’s were initially charging two annas per dabba for their delivery

service.

Working independently and in small group for decades, the dabbawala’s had united in

1954 to put together a rudimentary co-operative. This umbrella organization was officially

registered in 1956 as a charitable trust under the name Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers

Charity Trust. At that time, some of the dabbawala’s employed delivery boys to carry their

dabba’s and transport them along the routes on bicycles and push carts. These dabbawala’s

would collect the fees from their clients and pay the delivery boys whatever they could

negotiate with them. This changed in 1983 when the trust adopted anowner-partner system.

Under this new system, the practice of subcontracting was dispensed with and dabbawala’s

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started to receive equal earnings. The delivery boys system was converting into an

apprenticeship system wherein new recruits were trained for at least two to three years on a

fixed remuneration before they became full time dabbawala’s. By 2012, more than 5,000

dabbawala’s worked under aegis of the trust. Together they delivered about 200,000 lunches

daily in Mumbai. They served a total area that covered approximately Rs 380 million per

annum. Given the two way route for each dabba, the number of deliveries worked out to more

than 350,000 per day. Despite the sheer number of daily deliveries, the failure rate reported by

the media numbered one in two months, or one in every 15 million deliveries

THE NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS CHARITY TRUST

The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is a streamlined 120-year-old

organization with 4,500 semi-literate members providing a quality door-to-door service to a

large and loyal customer base.The Trust was responsible for managing the overall meal

delivery system. it worked in close co-ordination with the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers

Association, a forum that provided opportunities for social interactions among the dabbawala’s

and the Dakkhan Mavle Sahakari Patpedhi, a credit union that catered to the financial needs of

individual dabbawala’s by providing personal loans. Given its charitable trust status, the Trust

was also involved in community initiatives by providing free food and accommodation to low-

income families at some pilgrimages centers.

The Trust had a three-tier structure Executive Committee, Mukadams and dabbawala’s.

Under this structure, the basic operating unit was the team. Each team, which comprised

between five and eight dabbawala’s, was headed by a Mukadam. Having risen from the ranks

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of the dabbawala’s, a Mukadam’s primary daily responsibility involved the sorting of the

dabba’s. However as team leader the Mukadam performed several administrative tasks that

included maintaining records of client payments, arbitrating disputes between dabbawala’s and

customers, and apprentice training. The Mukadam was also in charge of acquiring new clients

for the team and managing customer satisfaction. New customers purchased their dabba’s from

the dabbawala’s when service was commenced. Dabbas were typically replaced at cost to the

customer once every two years.

Seven to eight Mukadams aggregated their efforts and constituted a profit centre,

eachprofit centre was referred to as a “group.” There were about 120 groups in total. While

each group was managed autonomously, its members stepped in without hesitation to help

other groups in dealing with emergencies such as dabbawala absenteeism. Monthly group

maintenance costs totalled Rs.35000/, covering the maintenance of the bicycles, push carts and

wooden boxes the dabbawala’s used in their daily deliveries. The 13 members of the Executive

Committee, which was elected by the general body every 5 years, coordinated the activities of

the various work groups. The Committee, which undertook all major decisions for the trust and

worked on the principles specified in the Cooperative Societies Act, met on the 15th of each

month. Operational issues typically dominated each meetings agenda. Examples of such issues

included disputes with the Mumbai city railways over dabbawala’s not carrying their monthl

passes or the ID issued to them by the Trust, and with the city police when dabbawala’s parked

their push carts or bicycles where parking was not permitted. Annually there were few reports

of lost or stolen dabba’s. In such instances clients were reimbursed by the individual

dabbawala’s or given a free dabba.

12

DABBAWALA NETWORK COVERAGE

The dabbawala network operates so efficiently and punctually owing to one simple

reason The Railways. The local trains of Mumbai city cover approximately 60-70 kilometres.

This distance is covered by hundreds of trains that operate at a frequency of a train departing

every three minutes. This feature of the local trains leads to over 90% the city's population

depending upon this mode of transport. A local train is rarely ever delayed in its journey, thus,

it enables millions of commuters to be punctual in reaching their offices and homes everyday

and in all conditions, and this is the main reason why the dabbawala’s actually operate in this

city and not any other. In order to deliver over 2,00,000 tiffins everyday, the dabbawala’s can

rely only on this mode of transport, A person can reach from one end of the city (Mira Road) to

the other end (Churchgate) in just under an hour and a half! Thus, it is rightly said that if the

dabbawala’s are the foodline of the city of Mumbai, then the local trains are the lifelines of the

city.

The entire dabbawala system works on a military discipline based on a shared agenda

and a common protocol. The workforce is not even basically educated and there is no

paperwork involved.

The two essences are the LOCAL TRAIN and INFORMATION, The system is

information rich in nature, the coding system enables all the 'magic' with which all

dabbawala’s function, Again, it is ‘Centralized planning and decentralized

implementation’.

The dabbawala’s are spread over the entire city and hence, all three lines of the local

train are utilized by them, Western, Central and Harbour Lines.

The main stations include Dombivili, Andheri, Dadar, Kurla, Grant Road, Churchgate

and C.S.T. these are also the major sorting areas for the dabbawala’s.

13

Each station may have approximately 4-8 groups depending on the density of

population and demand. E.G. there can be 15-20 groups at Churchgate and just 5-6

groups at stations like Khar and Vile Parle.

The various modes of transport that can be used by the dabbawala’s in their whole

network will mainly include trains, bicycles, handcarts and of course, on foot,

Time is the principle factor in this system. If there is any delay of even a few minutes,

the train will be missed by the dabbawala’s and the system will be disrupted because of

him. Hence, planning for contingency is also very important on part of the dabbawala.

Punctuality is therefore of prime Importance. Rarely has it been that the Tiffin doesn't

reach the owner's desk at lunchtime.

The city's geographical pattern helps. Most of Mumbai's Office-goers live in the

suburbs and work downtown and there arc local trains connecting two, points - which

form hubs for hub-and-spoke sub-networks. Each Tiffin is at least handled by 4-5

different dabbawala’s in the entire process

OPERATIONS PROFILE OF THE DABBAWALAS

BDO operations is confined to Bombay, the commercial capital of India. BDO services

include collection, transportation and delivery of lunch boxes from home to office location in

the morning. In the evening the (empty) lunch boxes are moved in the reverse direction. This

service is aimed at the middle income group families, small traders and owner managers. BDO

operates 25 days a month, with a one week pre announced holiday in a year.

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The need for BDO service is driven by clear preference to home food by its customers.

Many target customers find food available in their work area as not suitable for their life style.

Often, they find it expensive too. In addition, a typical BDO customer commutes about 100

kms a day between his home and work place. They usually leave their home early morning to

work. At such a time, lunch may not be ready.

The BDO service is priced at Rs. 500 per lunch box per month (was Rs.150-300 till

recently). Depending on specific customer requirements customized offering (large lunch box,

special diet requirements etc. are charged differently. Most commercial establishments are

situated in South Bombay. The middle income residential areas are in North Bombay.

Accordingly the lunch box traffic movement is predominantly uni-directional (North to South

in the morning and vice versa in the evening).

BDO started its operation with a modest beginning in 1890 by a group of people (same

ethnic background) from Pune to support their livelihood in Bombay. The system has been

operational for (about) 120 years without any interruption. As of 2012, BDO handled 400,000

transactions a day (200,000 boxes), employed 5000 people and earned Rs. 360 million every

year.

BDO reported less than six errors in 13 million transactions. They work for six days a

week. There is no disruption to work (as long as the Bombay Sub-urban rail network is

functional). BDO not only provides clean home food but it also delivers it safe against theft

and pilferage.

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STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

BDO is organized as a co-operative movement. The basic entity is a Dabbawala. A set

of Dabbawala's would form a team. Several teams would form a group. Several groups (120)

constitute the entire organization.

The BDO is designed to collect, transport and distribute lunch boxes to its customer

routinely (every day) for 25 (working) days in a month. The specific details are described

below.

The fundamental unit of organization is a Dabbawala. There are 5000 of them in the

system. Each Dabbawala is assigned (a set of) upto 30 customers in a specific geographical

area. Each Dabbawala visits a pre-assigned and fixed route and carries the lunch boxes and

brings it on his head to the nearest railway station.

Their primary job is to visit the pre-assigned set of household under their area of

operation. Usually this visit is made between 8.30 and 9.00 a.m. in the morning. Each

Dabbawala is in-charge of about 30 lunch boxes. They either walk or travel on bicycle to

collect the lunch boxes. The household is expected to keep the lunch box ready when the

Dabbawala reports for collection. For some reason, if the lunch box is not ready, the

Dabbawala would leave for the next destination. After collecting approximately 30

such lunch boxes, the lunch boxes are brought to the nearest sub-urban railway station for

sorting and onward transportation.

Upto 8 Dabbawalas are organized as a team. Usually, more than one team operates out

of a collection railway station. Upto 8 teams form a group. There are 120 groups in the system.

The groups are responsible for entire operations (customer care, quality, complaint

management, manpower recruitment, compensation, discipline, scheduling of work, collection,

16

accounts receivables and revenue management). The teams are responsible for operational

execution.

At the originating railway station a team of designated Dabbawalas would sort the

lunch boxes according to their destination. The sorting process is facilitated by a detailed and

elaborate codification system. (The details of the codification would be described later). The

essence of the codification system is it clearly identifies the origin of the lunch box, the

associated collection team member, the destination, the corresponding delivery team member,

at the delivery location, destination, location building identification and floor number.

Based on codes assigned to individual boxes, they are sorted for a origin to hub transfer

by using the Bombay metropolitan rail network. At the destination a group of members would

receive the Lunch box, resort the lunch boxes based on destination (building, floor and

17

location). Subsequently, the assigned members would move the lunch boxes to the respective

location physically and leave the lunch boxes at the appropriate consumer location or floor.

The lunch boxes are accompanied by team members from collection location to final

destination. As the train moves towards central Bombay more and more lunch boxes and team

members join the journey.

The origin-hub transfer is facilitated by greater frequency of sub-urban trains (one in a

minute). The lunch boxes arrive at destination railway stations by 11.30 a.m. The subsequent

delivery is completed before 1.00 p.m. After the delivery the members hang around (gossip,

play card, rest, eat their own lunch) in public parks in central Bombay near the destination

areas. By 3.30 p.m. they return to the offices and buildings where they left the boxes and

collect the empty boxes for their return journey.

Between 12.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m, the customers reach their lunch boxes left in their

respective floor, eat their lunch and return the empty box to the location from where it was

collected by them.

All the empty lunch boxes are assembled at the destination railway location, resorted to

the respective origin location, placed on standard carts and transferred to the respective hub or

individual stations by the designated members.

The carts are unloaded at the appropriate (Bombay) sub-urban train station and taken to

the individual households by the same member who collected them in the morning. After this

transaction, the member's responsibility is over and he retires for the day.

The members of BDO should be capable for carrying a load of 100 kgs. manually on

their head and walk 2.5 kms. effortlessly. The work hours are between 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

with an appropriate rest period of 21/2 hours. They travel in the train along with lunch boxes

18

every day. Each member would have a railway pass which allows him to make unlimited

number of trips on designated routes.

The sorting and loading operations need care and they are time bound. They are carried

out in areas which are public places. These locations are usually congested. The origin-hub

transfer normally happens in designated carts. These carts are loaded in pre-determined

compartments in the beginning or at the end of the train.

19

Borivali

Kurla Churchgate

Sorting a/c Destination

Churchgate Distribution Network

Fountain

Fort

Nariman

Point

THE CODING SYSTEM

The suburbs kept going further and the patrons list kept getting longer. More and more carriers

were pressed into service and soon, there was a clash in functioning styles of various groups.

The number of tiffins increased for the dabbawala’s as the days passed on. As every Tiffin box

had to be carried to and fro mapping each box to its carrier was crucial or else it would lead to

chaos. For this the dabbawala’s started tying strings or wires or threads to their boxes. But soon

these methods were inadequate as the number of tiffins grew exceptionally. Thus the need for a

new form of coding came up, which could be understood by the illiterate dabbawala’s and was

inexpensive.

Hence, in the 1970’s a senior member in Raghunath Medge’s family decided to

implement a new system where all the box codes and markings were uniform for the

dabbawala’s. This system would cater to any number of tiffins no matter the growth in

additions. This was an ingenious creation. It served as a common code for the dabbawala’s

which was easy to decipher.

That was the most important thing to remember while creating the codes. The

Dabbawala’s, being illiterate should be able to understand it and explain it with ease to new

comers and outsiders. This coding system eventually stood the test of time and proved

extensible. With coding in place, there was enough scope to factor in new developments like

adding new dabbawala’s or new office blocks or new sources and destinations. The new

system depends on common protocols, a typical Indian approach to versatile distribution

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Each tiff in containing the food has, number of codes in alphabets and numbers on its top

which identify the following:

The code allotted to each dabbawala in a group that picks up the Tiffin form a

particular area or suburb.

The code of the origin station, which is usually one of the suburbs on western, central

or harbour lines.

The code for destination, which is Churchgate, CST or any other commercial area.

The code of the dabbawala in the destination area who handles the Tiffin there

The code for the location or office building in the destination area

The floor or the room in that building

21

Besides these that are displays on the top of the dabba there is also a difference in the

colour of paints or chalk that they use to write the codes. Different groups will have different

colour cod written on the top of the dabba so that the Tiffin belonging to a group remains

distinct. This is necessary because there is usually more than just one group present at each

station. The destination codes will be the same for all groups at the same station. This makes it

difficult to distinguish their tiffins, so the simplest way of bringing the distinctions that is

required is by coding with different colours. This is a simple and easy way of differentiating

the codes which is also easy to understand for the illiterate dabbawala’s. The maximum

number of colour used in this system is 7.

Incidentally each group of dabbawala’s must also carry coloured pencils or chalks so

that they can write the codes if they have been erased or are difficult to interpret. Obviously,

each and every dabbawala must know the coding system very well and must also know all the

dabba’s in his group with respect to the origin and destination.

Let, us know look at a few examples of these codes on the tiffins to better understand the

system and what it all denotes

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We can now separate each element that is written on the Tiffin cover or top for

understanding what it means. Let us follow the pattern anti-clockwise:-

VP – The first thing on the Tiffin is the code for the originating station. This is the station

from where the dabbawala picks up the Tiffin in the morning. In this case, VP denotes Vile

Parle. The area under this station will include Juhu and also J.V.P.D scheme since this is the

only station, which is nearest. Even if the dabbawala goes to the most interior parts like in

Juhu, it will not be mentioned in the coding simply because the dabbawala’s are just concerned

about the respective railway stations.

E – This is the code for the dabbawala who is picking up the Tiffin from its origin

or home. In this case, the dabbawala with the code of ‘E’ will be a part of the group

distinguished by the colour code ‘RED’. In many instances, the code will be the initial of the

name of the dabbawala. This is one of the elements that can be changed during the course of

time if the dabbawala for that particular customer changes.

3 – This is the code for the destination area. This may not necessarily be restricted to

astation only. For instance, the Churchgate is allotted number codes from 1-10. Number 11 is

allotted to marine lines, 12 to Charni road and so on. In this example, the number 3 is allotted

to the area between flora fountain and cross Maidan area. Other prime locations would include

Nariman Point, stock exchange, Ballard pier, RBI etc.

9 – This is the code number for the dabbawala who delivers the Tiffin to the

destination office from Churchgate station. This is the dabbawala who is responsible for

delivering it to the respective office and picking it up after the lunch hours. He is a part of

another group from the one he worked with at the originating station. Thus, in most cases, each

dabbawala will be a part of more than one group for sure, one at the origin and one at the

destination.

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AI - This code denotes the exact location or more likely, the building’s initial in the

area that falls under Churchgate station. In this case, it is Air India building. AI being the

initial for the building is unique and therefore, creates no confusion whatsoever for the

dabbawala’s. Office buildings around southern Mumbai are very popular and hence, easy to

comprehend when given in codes. Other examples would be ‘M’ for Mittal Towers,‘R’ for

RBI, ‘MC’ for Maker Chambers and so on.

12 – finally, the last code among the three codes that form the right side of the top

of the dabba is the floor on the building (Air India) or the room number in case of

buildings with large number of rooms on each floor. Such an example would be Stock

Exchange, RBI and BMC etc.

Let us take a second example with different locations so we can exactly figure out how to

comprehend the coding system.

GH – This again denotes the originating station code, which in this case is

Ghatkoper that is central line suburb. A dabbawala will not usually work in two different

groups or switch groups based in central region to Western suburbs. Of course, a dabbawala, in

all possibility can pick up Tiffin from a central suburb but deliver it to an office based in the

western lines and vice versa. In this case, the origin is from a central suburb that is Ghatkopar.

D- In this case, the dabbawala, who picks up the Tiffin from Ghatkopar area and

assembles with this group at the station, has a code ‘D’ as mentioned earlier, this could be his

initial or a random allotment.

13 – This code is for the destination station and in this case, it represents Grant

Road. This being a smaller station as per the area it encompasses, requires just one number for

24

its designation. Churchgate and C.S.T are the only ones that have so many numbers based on

locations under them.

2 – The first part of the right side codes is the code of the dabbawala at the

destination station. In this case, it is the dabbawala with code 2 who is responsible for

delivering it to the respective office and picking it up after the lunch hours.

P - This code denotes the exact location or more likely, the building’s initial in the

area that falls under Grant Road station. ‘P’ stands for the ‘Panchratna’, which is among

the most famous buildings in south Bombay as it is home to one of the largest diamond makers

offices in the country. It is an old building and the dabbawala’s have been providing services

over here ever since the city became a diamond exporter and trading hub.

9 – finally, the last code among the three codes that form the right side of the top of the

dabba is the floor on the building (Panchratna) or the room number.

Therefore, we can link the coding system and its function in the entire network process with

fine example by taking the network process of the second example of the coding system:

The sorting takes place at Ghatkopar station and the tiffins collected from the client’s

residences is kept with boxes that are bound for grant road station. This way it is easier to

offload them and dispatch them to the respective dabbawala who is responsible for deliveries at

grant road.

At grant road station, the carrier whose number is ‘2’, picks up all the boxes that are

marked for him and proceeds. At Panchratna, he leaves the tiffins outside the lifts or outsides

the office on the 9th floor. During the lunch time, the client fetches the tiffins completes his

25

lunch and puts the empty tiffins back to the same place so that dabbawala can collect it

easily .The return journey follows the same route back.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY IN DETAIL

ONWARD JOURNEY – 8:30- 10:34 am

The day for the dabbawala’s starts at 8:30 am, with collecting the dabba’s from the

various houses. People usually leave the dabba’s outside the door for them. In case they are

26

late the dabbawala’s have to urge them to hurry up, else if it gets late they have to leave if the

clients’ Tiffin is not ready in time. He then picks up all the tiffins and meets the other

dabbawala’s at the station

[The dabbawala is forced to do so because he is bound by the train time. The departing

train’s time is very crucial and he must consider the time required for the sorting process.

There may, on the other hand, be further delays caused by other customers too. It is extremely

difficult, yet crucial to ensure that the entire pick up of all tiffins takes place as per schedule.

The scheduling has to include cushion time for uncertainties such as these without which the

whole system will, be disrupted]

The dabbawala picks up the Tiffin from his lot of houses in Santacruz and meets the

other group members at the designated spot at the station. This particular group of 10

dabbawala’s takes the 10:34 am Churchgate local train everyday. Therefore, the dabbawala’s

have to make sure that they reach the platform for the sorting process at least by 10:15 am in

order to ensure a smooth flow of their networking throughout their daily routine, this period in

the morning that includes picking up the Tiffin’s and meeting at the designated spot on the

station is the most crucial part of the system. One bit delay in this aspect will disrupt the whole

system and will lead to a chaotic situation. Therefore, the dabbawala’s have to collect the

tiffins n time and reach the station with enough time left for the sorting to take place before the

train arrives.

SORTING - 10:15 – 10:34 am

The critical phase of the system is sorting. Sorting of all the tiffins according to their

destination station and arranging them into wooden crates takes 20-25 minutes! The aim of the

process is to segregate the tiffins and differentiate them as per the destination of each of them.

27

The tiffins are then handed to different dabbawala’s at the destinationstation and sorting

makes it easier to identify each group of tiffins and less time consuming for the respective

dabbawala. The sorting makes the entire process error free. The process of sorting is similar to

that of a post office where letters are segregated according to their destinations. Since each

Tiffin exchanges many hands, each of the lids of the tiffins is marked with a colored code

indicating the originating station, destinationand building with the floor number. The coding is

the secret behind the efficient working of the system and that’s why the network is

‘Information rich’. This is a unique feature as it requires no documentation or record keeping.

There is no communication between the 2 groups, but just coordination among them because

the whole blueprint is pre-decided by the dabbawala’s themselves

The Mukadam plays a key role here to ensure smooth working and coordination, his

responsibility is to know all the tiffins his group carries. The responsibility of the Mukadam is

to the extent that he has to know all the tiffins that his group carries. Therefore, he must be able

to recognize these Tiffin’s even if the codes on them arebarely visible. Also, if any member of

the group abstains from his duty for a particularday for some reason, then it is the

responsibility of the Mukadam to ensure that all the dabba’s that the absentee was responsible

for, are duly picked up and delivered back on time. Hence, we see that the Mukadam plays a

critical role in this stage of sorting and allocating jobs

The dabba’s are collected, sorted out and sent to their destinations based on a numerical

and alphabetical code. Every station has a numerical code and each place has an alphabetical

code. The Tiffin carries the code of the source and the destination. The codes help identify

Tiffin owners. Very simple system of sorting exists with this Dabbawala Network. Every

Tiffin-carrier has the mark of a circle or a flower of a specific colour and a digital identity

number. Take this Tiffin Mark for example-K-BO-10-19/A/15. K is the identity letter of the

dabbawala. BO means Borivali i.e. the area from where the Tiffin is to be collected... The

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figure of 10 refers to Nariman point area. 19/A/15 refers to the 19th Building and the 15th floor

in Nariman point area where the Tiffin is to be delivered.

JOURNEY TIME – 10:34 to 11:20 am

The time period between 10:34 and 11:20 is the journey time for the dabbawala’s. They

load the wooden cart filled with tiffins into the luggage or goods compartment of the train.

Generally they try to occupy the last compartment as this helps them to avoid the rush at the

platforms and is easy to be located and conveniently situated once the trainarrives on the

platform. Mostly the commuters don’t get on this compartment as they are already filled with

crates and there is not enough room. This is a common understanding among daily commuters

and dabbawala’s. In any case the platform is filled with people and dabbawala’s have to unload

the crates on the platform, they start a series of loud verbal comments warning everyone to

make way of the unloading. The unloading of this particular group takes place at Dadar, Lower

Parel, Grant road and finally Churchgate etc. finally just six out of total 10 dabbawala’s get off

at Churchgate. There are also others joining into the group from the station as they have

common destination points.

The allocation of manpower at each station depends on the number of tiffins that have

to be delivered in a particular area. E.g. if 150 tiffins are to be delivered in Grant Road,

4people are assigned to the station. This is done in keeping in the mind that one person cannot

carry more than 35 dabba’s. They will also be assigned specific codes which are written on the

top of the Tiffin. This 4 dabbawala’s can be from any groups and irrespective of any station.

Their job is now to deliver these 150 Tiffin’s irrespective of which group they belong to. If the

number of Tiffin’s that are to be delivered in an areas like Nariman point, is large then the

number of people allocated goes up. Within that area, if one location lets say, Mittal towers,

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has a huge number of Tiffin’s have to be delivered then this area number of the location

number remains the same and tiffins are differentiated on basis of colour.

SORTING AT THE DESTINATION STATION AND DELIVERING - 11:20 to 12:30 am

At this stage the unloading takes place at Churchgate and our destination station. In our

example in it will be Churchgate. Here, the rearrangement Of Tiffin’s takes place as per the

destination area and destination building in Churchgate. Dabbawala’s have to be dispatched

accordingly and the dabba’s are to be delivered in large quantities at times to areas like

Nariman Point, RBI and Stock Exchange. If the number of Tiffin’s that are to be delivered in

an area like Nariman Point (Which is very large considering the density of offices), then the

number of dabbawala’s to be allotted to the area increases. Now, within that area, if one

location, like, Mittal Towers has a huge number of Tiffin’s to be delivered then this “area of

number” or “location number” remains the same and the dabba’s have to be differentiated

according to the basis of colour. To sum up the delivery process at the destination centers, each

dabbawala looks for a particular three character code written on right hand side of the cap of

the Tiffin. The dabbawala concentrates only on the dabba’s that he has to deliver from

Churchgate. He may not have in most cases, picked up his Tiffin’s from the originating

stations; he has been allotted these dabba’s only at Churchgate. This kind of specialization

makes the entire system efficient and error free.

The entire sorting process takes place outside Churchgate station or in the lanes around

the station. Here, different groups arrange their dabba’s in order of their destination areasand

buildings. The main area around Churchgate includes Nariman point, RBI, StockExchange,

Ballard Pier, and world trade center. There are around thirty groups itself at Churchgate station

dispatching their respective tiffins in the area. In particular area with high density of customers

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a special crate is dedicated to that area. This crate carries 150 Tiffin’s and is driven by 3-4

dabbawala’s

A unique feature of the system is that bigger buildings with large office densities, like

in Nariman point, or the stock exchange building itself, an elevator is especially reserved for

the dabbawala’s during the lunch time. Usually these elevators have queues throughout the day

as the offices are extremely busy and hence, in order to provide convenience and quick

delivery without queues. The dabbawala’s have a special elevator reserved for themselves onto

which others cannot board. In some cases, they also leave the Tiffin’s in the canteen that is

common to the whole building and hence the respective owners can simply pick up theirs. This

is also a feature seen in schools where the dabbawala’s deliver.

In other cases, like at Mittal Cambers the dabbawala’s leave the Tiffin’s outside the

respective offices. The peon comes and gives them to the respective clients in their offices.

Incidentally, even the peons are good at recognizing the Tiffin’s as to whom they belong to.

So, in this process, the dabbawala’s save a lot of time by cutting short the delivery process.

Thereafter, the dabbawala’s take a break and have their own lunch which is usually

their Tiffin’s kept along with the others in the crate with special markings. Different group’s

have their lunch at different locations. It is generally on the footpath or some benches on the

roadside. This break is usually of 45-60 minutes in duration. Till then, the customers must

finish having their lunch and keep the dabba’s outside for the dabbawala to collect.

COLLECTION PROCESS - 1:15 to 2:00 pm

Here on begins the collection process where the dabbawala have to pick up the Tiffin’s

from the offices where they had delivered almost an hour ago. The dabbawala’s are the same in

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this case. The one who delivers it to the office will be the same one who collects it. Most of the

time, the dabbawala will collect al dabba’s from all the offices situated on the same floor and

will leave them in the corridor.

Then, he goes and collects all dabba’s from various floors and gets them to the base

level. Finally, he loads them onto the crate.

This is actually the only risky point in the entire network system. This is because there

is a risk of theft when the dabbawala leaves the Tiffin’s outside the corridor. The only solution

to this is, to have another dabbawala securing the dabba’s while the other one goes and collects

the remaining. This is related to a personal experience and hence amention of this incident is

critical in analyzing the mechanism of the system. By complaints and suggestions from

customers, the dabbawala’s can actually bring some improvements in the system such as the

one mentioned. A dabbawala who can secure the procured Tiffin’s can greatly help in reducing

thefts.

RETURN JOURNEY – 2:00 to 2:30 pm

After the collection is over, the dabbawala’s meet the remaining group members at a

designated spot and the first assortment on the return journey takes place. The groupmembers

meet with their respective crates and the segregation as per the destinationsuburbs takes place.

The group departs for the station and all groups meet there for a common sorting process. The

crates are arranged in a line and each dabbawala picks up the tiffins that belong to his group at

the destination centre (the originating centre). This is not the final sorting and therefore, the

individual members of the destination group have to just identify the boxes and put them into

the crates.

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One important thing to note is that a particular dabbawala need not operate in the same

group throughout the day. He will, in most cases operate with 2 different groups. One at the

originating station (Santacruz) and one at the destination station (Churchgate). Thecoordination

is equally important in either groups and there is total unity among them.

After sorting in various crates they depart in their respective train, which again are pre-

decided and is part of their daily routine. This part of the journey is more relaxed as they are

not under the pressure of timely delivery as in the mornings. They lighten up the moment by

joking around and singing, which eases their stress and develops a strong bond in the group.

TRAIN JOURNEY – 2:48 - 3:30 pm

This again, is the return journey by train where the group finally meets up after the

day’s routine of dispatching and collecting from various destination offices. The group

members from Marine Lines, Grant Road and Dadar board the designated compartments and

finally, they arrive at Santacruz station with the same dabba’s that they had started off with in

the morning.

Usually, since it is more of a pleasant journey compared to the earlier part of the day,

the dabbawala’s lighten up the moment by merry making, joking around and singing,

whicheases their stress and develops a strong bond among the group. Of course, other

passengers also join them in the merry making at times and hence, these dabbawala’s have

created an impression upon other passengers of being hard working, dedicated and joyous

people.

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THE FINAL JOURNEY OF THE DAY – 3:30 to 4:00 pm

This is the stage where the final sorting and dispatch takes place. The group meets up at

Santacruz station and they finally sort out the Tiffin’s as per the destination area. This is the

easiest process because of the limited quantity of tiffins that gets off the trains with them; it is

simpler to understand which Tiffin belongs to whom. The dabbawala’s take out the respective

tiffins from the crates and either carry 10-15 of them physically on themselves or load them

onto the crates till they reach their cycles. Then each of them departs on their way with the

same dabba’s that he took in the morning and delivers them to their respective houses.

This delivery process takes roughly 30-45 minutes depending on the distance that the

dabbawala will have to cover. Thus, the entire network system ends with the delivery of the

tiffins back to the customer’s origin point at the precise time everyday. The customer is

satisfied with timely delivery of home food and the dabba back to the origin.

There is still one more important and unique aspect to this system and that is the

individual dabbawala. This dabbawala doesn’t operate in any group. He picks up the dabba

himself in the morning and travels himself in the morning and travels to the various

destinations himself delivering them to the destination offices, collects them again and delivers

them back to the origination home. This is a rare case but it is a laudable effort that the

dabbawala puts in just to earn a meagre livelihood. A real example of this kind of a dabbawala

can be cited here. This particular dabbawala travels from Ghatkoper to Cuffe parade and back

everyday!!! It is simply unbelievable that a person can do so much everyday and still manage

efficiency with punctuality.

He operates on an 8 am to 8 pm shift. But he doesn’t have an option of taking the train

too at any point because there are always tiffins at various points at various suburbs en route.

For example, there are 4 tiffins from Parel to Churchgate between which he could’ve easily

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taken the train by delegating his task of collection to another dabbawala. But then, he will lose

his customers to that dabbawala then because it will be that second dabbawala who is putting

all the efforts and hence, he cannot afford to lose customers because he would be hurting his

own income. He cannot lose out on his business which is earned with extreme hard work.

Therefore, this system of going individual as a dabbawala instead of a group is for those who

prefer to put in more hard work just to earn that bit of extra income.

The disadvantages in this system are:

• The dabbawala’s entire scheduling and system will be disrupted if any customer causes

a delay in giving the dabba to him.

• And secondly, if the dabbawala falls ill or takes leave due to any reason, there won’t be

anyone to substitute his place and therefore, no backup. The customers will be frustrated and

will switch over to another dabbawala if this one has a habit of abstaining. That would be a

great loss to the dabbawala and hence, his health also needs to be maintained. Even more than

any other dabbawala who are working in groups. This is rather difficult considering the

rigorous working and the long hours involved.

As it is apparent enough, there is hardly any contact between the client and the dabbawala

during each day. The dabbawala meets the client in his office only on the first day of delivery

to verify the address and to show the spot where the Tiffin will be kept daily. The system has

been honed to such perfection that many dabbawala’s carry out the entire operation with the

help of just the 1st code, which is absolutely reversed. Evidently, this system is tailor-made

specifically for a city like Mumbai.

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37

WORKING LOGIC OF THE DABBAWALA

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Competitiveness

Large scale operationFormidable entry barrierPowerful BrandUninterrupted Legacy

Core values

DisciplineProviding food (higher order objective)Dignity of LabourFixed one week holiday in a year

Infrastructure

Linear topographySub-urban rail networkSubsidized TransportationWide reach and coverage

Management Practices

More than one group in a location (Internal Competition)DeriskingRedundancy on route assignment

Process Enablers

Co-operative customerFlexible train s cheduleSupportive publiDelivery at floor level (destination)Liberal delivery time spe cifi cations

Resources

MembersSame ethnic groupApprenticeship

Structure

Member, team and groupModular and scalable structureCo-operative organization

SystemCodification (origin, destination)Mix of work and leisureEqual compensationOptimal Mix of transportation economicsCentralized planningDecentralized executionLocalized monitoringDynamic manpower allocation

Need for service

Preference to home foodLong commuting distancesOverstretched public transport systemEarly departure from home

Performance

Negligible error (six sigma)Inexpensive pricingReasonable compensation to members

SIX SIGMA AND THE DABBAWALAS

Six sigma is a disciplined data-driven approach to delivering very high levels of

customer satisfaction for maximizing and sustaining business success. Six sigma also denotes

a specific performance level. A six sigma process or transaction produces extremely few

defects - 3.45 defects per million opportunities (99.99965% defect-free). A defect is anything

that results in customer dissatisfaction. Customer satisfaction is the goal of six sigma. Six

sigma can be deployed to improve the performance of all human work-processes,

manufacturing and transactional.

The Dabbawalas of Mumbai have received international acclaim for their defect-free

handling of lunch boxes for clients. Forbes magazine has rated their performance on par with

Motorola’s, the pioneer of Six Sigma. From a six sigma perspective, the Dabbawalas must

contend with two CTQ’s (critical-to-quality parameters):

(1) Lunch boxes must be delivered on time, and

(2) Recipients must receive their own lunch boxes and not some one else’s.

In today's world of six sigma quality standard & super technologies for supply chain

management and logistical management it is a miracle that the failure or mistake in the service

of dabbawalas is 1 in 16 million end deliveries that also due to accidents or acts of God and not

human failure despite the fact that human beings are everything in this service. The remarkable

performance of Dabbawalas for over hundred years is especially commendable since the

workers are from the villages and are not even high school graduates and they are literates only

to the level of understanding alphabets. Yet they are the best in time management, customer

care and quality of service. The corporate world is wonderstruck as to how such a high level of

quality has been achieved without any sophisticated formal management system in place. But

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the irony is that the dabbawalas don't even understand terms such as Six Sigma quality or

supply chain management.

The Unique Features Of The Dabbawalas:

Zero % - Fuel

Zero % - Investment.

Zero % - Modern Technology.

Zero % - No Strike Record Till Date.

99.99% - Performance.

100% - Customer Satisfaction.

What is unique about this system is that though most of the tiffin-carriers are illiterate

they are the ultimate natural followers of strategies like Just-in-Time and Supply Chain

Management-strategies which they have never learnt in any formal school of management. The

dabbawalas may be semi-literate, but their efficient delivery and time management skills would

shame some professionally managed corporations.

Secondly, this 115 year old organization has not seen any labor problems till date, and

has survived in face of the assault of five-star hotels, fast food frenzy, and over-the-counter

culture.

With an average age of 52 years, about 5,000 dabbawalas criss-cross the city using the

local train network as the only technology and complete the last mile connectivity using

bicycles. Impressively, their success is despite the dabba carrying no `From Address' and each

tiffin box changing hands at least five times. The service is uninterrupted even on the days of

extreme weather, such as Mumbai's characteristic monsoons.

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CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

The BDO is known and recognized for its negligible number of transactional errors. We

now discuss in detail what is behind such an outstanding performance.

Flexible Infrastructure: The back bone of BDO is the higher frequency of sub-urban train

services. There is a train service virtually every minute. The entire operational area of BDO is

serviced by the well developed railway infrastructure. Further, the train services are

inexpensively priced.

Customer Co-operation: The members of the co-operative do not wait for lunch boxes, if

they are not ready when they arrive for collection at residences. The household understands the

need to be punctual to support the functioning of BDO and extend appropriate co-operation.

Appropriate Network Structure: The logistics network of BDO is a combination of milkman

route, hub-hub transfer, and hub and spoke distribution. There is perfect symmetry in the

reverse logistics operation.

Codification system: The codification system is the core to material flow and its tracking in

the system. It is home grown, ad hoc but serves adequately the purpose for which it is

designed. It is a combination of alphabeti cs, symbols and colour. It is unique to BDO. The

codification is a combination of systems approach and personalized information available to

members. It is specific to the extent required.

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Topography: The BDO has evolved in the context of Bombay city. The operational area

topography is linear. At the origination it is dispersed over a large area. At the destination it is

concentrated on a smaller geographical area. The traffic pattern is characterized by low volume

spread over larger area to high volume spread over small area.

Process Capability: The total time required from collection to delivery is about 3 hours. End

to end (conservative) travel time - 1.30 hrs. Travel time to the nearest railway station at the

origin 30 mts. sorting and material handling etc. - 30 mts. and final dispatch - 30 mts. All this

adds up to 3 hours. However, the time available for end-end delivery is at least 4 hours. Thus

the BDO process is inherently capable of meeting customer expectations and specifications.

Further, the delivery of the lunch boxes is consolidated at the floor level at the consumer

location. In a place like Bombay, this saves significant time, energy and possible

complications. The customers also participate in the last step of the (lunch box) delivery

process. Further, it makes no difference to the customer (on time dimension) as long as the

delivery is made before 1300 hrs.

Transport economics: The public infrastructure (sub-urban rail network) is used to deliver

lunch boxes. This keeps the cost low, and hence affordable price to consumers. Lower price

induces volume and scale economics. Depending on the need (at the origin and destination

locations) the allocation of manpower is dynamic and flexible. There are more members to

handle large volume at destination. At collection centers it is more of spread and appropriate

volume and member ownership. Every customer location is identified with a team member. It

is his (members) responsibility to collect lunch boxes and return empty boxes back home. The

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codification system incorporates this specific need. Actually the BDO assigns specific

collection routes to individual members.

Redundancy: Each route (collection) is assigned to an individual member. Often, this

information on collection route is known to every other member in the team. Should there be a

need to substitute a member on collection route it can be done effortlessly, without affecting

the collection process and its accuracy

Coordination: The responsibility to collect, transport and deliver lunch boxes is at the

individual member level. There are no managers or supervisors in the system. Every member is

motivated, trained, disciplined and empowered to do his job to the best of his ability.

Structure: The structure is decentralized. The model is scalable (on volume). It is a three tier

structure, co-operative organization. The basic units are individuals, teams and groups. There

are in all 120 business units.

Compensation: Compensation in a group is same to every member irrespective of work load

and responsibility.

Management Practices: The BDO provides illustration of several well known world class

business practices. It has all the salient features of a brilliant business strategy. We first discuss

briefly the elegant management practices and then outline the business strategy.

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Structure and Organization: The BDO is organized as a co-operative structure to symbolize

equality and fairness. The three tier structure is readily scalable based on business opportunity

and volume. It eminently suits the attention needed at specific territories (group level). It

ensures attention to detail and decentralization (at optimal resource deployment) at the team

level. The team is nothing but a confederation of members. Each member is associated with a

route. In this sense, the revenue opportunity is well integrated with the organization structure.

The scale and scope economics are managed respectively by the teams and groups. The present

structure is an optimal way of delivering centralized planning and decentralized execution of

business services.

Codification System: This pragmatic codification system ensures complete traceability of

lunch boxes in the system. It enables material flow and tracking of individual boxes by detailed

information. It is inexpensive, less elegant, yet detailed enough to support operations. It

integrates the knowledge and information of individual members on route, origin, handling

agent, destination address etc. In a sense it is a variation of an online transaction processing

system to identify and track material in (such) a large system.

HR Practices: The BDO is built on (members') pride in work. The members do not consider

themselves as logistics (operation) providers. They consider their job is to provide food to their

customers. This is source of pride for them. It is a great motivator to improve and sustain their

performance. The members belong to a homogeneous (ethnic) group. There is a well developed

apprenticeship program.

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Compensation: The compensation is same at the group level. Equal work equal pay. There is

no subsidy since group is a homogeneous and logically a differentiating entity.

Redundancy: The team members have slack capacity. Substitutability among members in a

team is easy. Flexible manpower deployment at the destination ensures operational accuracy.

More than one team operating in an originating train station ensures internal competition and

operational efficiency.

Fun and Work Mix: After delivery of lunch boxes, the members break away from work to

enjoy their leisure time. There is a one week forced holiday every year to visit their (member)

villages. Mutual respect for individuals and empowerment are reinforcing features. Members

are expected to conduct themselves to earn respect from public. They were uniform while at

work.

Transportation Economics: BDO is an example of a judicious mix of transportation

economics. At the collection point it is a milk man route structure. This is supported by a hub-

hub transfer to handle large volume at reduced operational cost. At the destination, it is hub to

spoke to ensure response time and handle volume flexibility. The rail infrastructure ensures

flexibility and lower cost of operation. Flexible manpower deployment and codification system

guarantee appropriate response time, smooth flow of information and material tracking in the

system.

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ELEMENTS OF STRATEGY, GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY

The BDO competitive strategy elements include identification of a long lasting

customer segment or need, effective use of public infrastructure, standardized operating

procedures, partnership with customer, motivated and empowered employees and an

appropriate material flow tracking system. A brief detail of these elements follow.

Perpetual Need: BDO caters to the basic yet perpetual demand of (serving) delivering home

prepared (ethnic) food to Indian middle income executives working in Bombay. The need is

more acute because of long commuting time, congested traffic conditions and long travel

distances. This market segment would exist for long time to come. The only erosion to this

market size or need is from changing food habits of Indian middle income group executives.

While this is a reality, the change is surely expected to be slow. Therefore, in the immediate

future, BDO is assured of its business so long as it can meet customer expectations on delivery

and price (service charges).

Value Pricing: The core to BDO's operational efficiency is the well managed Bombay metro

rail network. On any scale of comparison, for its wider reach and frequency of operations, the

members of BDO use the rail network for a nominal price. The 5000 members are paid a

reasonable compensation. The entire set of operations (BDO) are manual. All these contribute

to lower operational cost and hence a reasonable price (or value pricing) to the consumers.

Complemented by a large customer base, satisfied customers and an ever increasing working

class population at Bombay, this business model is a passport to perpetual growth.

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Standard Operating Procedures: BDO over a period of time has evolved as an outstanding

example of standard operating procedure. There is no uncertainty in the delivery model at any

stage. The individual member's role is clearly articulated. The information flow to track

material (codification system) is perfect. Members are empowered in task execution. There is

an element of internal competition: multiple teams in the same geographical location are

operational to generate additional business volume. Fair business practices (equal

compensation) and joy of work, pride in activity, fun mixed with work break the monotoni city

in the standard operating procedure in BDO.

Partnership with stakeholders: There are three important stakeholders groups with whom

BDO enjoys an excellent relationship. The first set is its primary customers. They support

BDO in meeting no delay in delivering lunch boxes and accepting delivery at the floor level in

the destination locations. The members are delighted to work for BDO (supported by

empowerment, compensation and an economic activity for livelihood). The commuting public

at large is tolerant to the inconveniences caused to them by BDO in the already over crowded,

over stretched urban transport system. Over a period of time, BDO has become an essential

element of modern Bombay.

Operational excellence: BDO has a remarkable and enviable quality record. This is a

combination of flexible infrastructure, adequate buffer in material handling, reasonable and

achievable service level specifications, elaborate and efficient codification system, self

motivated and empowered employees, dynamic and flexible deployment of members to

execute a given task, adopting a variety and mix of transportation models, and commitment to

work ethics.

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Structure: BDO operating structure is elegant, appropriate and enhances its operational

excellence based business model. As discussed earlier the 3 tier structure ensures operational

details are delegated to the most appropriate level. The structure provides for redundancy in

team members and hence volume flexibility on lunch boxes handled by the system. The

business integration happens at the group level. Broadly each group is self sufficient and has to

manage its own operational income, volume and hence profitability. Any other centralized

structure to supervise operations would have made the process inherently ineffective

(expensive) and less responsive to customer needs.

Performance measures: BDO performance measures are real time transactions based. As a

matter of fact every transaction is monitored in terms of its collection, transportation, and

delivery. Revenue collection is periodic and systematic. Employee (member) productivity is

volume based. Compensation is equal, group based and is a function of revenue generated.

Given internal competition at the group level this model is self corrective. Broadly there are no

fixed assets. Therefore assets productivity is irrelevant in BDO. The performance of BDO is

closely linked to the near automation (standardization) of the process. There are inherent

buffers to manage and accommodate unanticipated risks in the system.

Customer focus: BDO is a service organization focused on customer expectation

management. The service is priced low to attract and retain relevant customer segment and

base. The process is capable enough in the context of assurances made to customers. The BDO

has elevated the purpose of their business to an opportunity to provide food (higher order

objective than transport logistics support to deliver lunch boxes). The discipline,

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empowerment, commitment to work of members are all consequences of this higher order

objective in meeting customer expectations.

UNIQUE FACTORS

There are several complimentary aspects of BDO which render it as unique and hence

protects it from competition. The first and most critical is a business proposition based on

inexpensive and reliable public infrastructure. This coupled with a formidable volume (of

business) BDO has built up over a period of time, provides an unparalled advantage to BDO.

The topography of Bombay (and client locations) and need for home based food

(preference) are important contextual uniqueness.

The BDO model is scalable. The logistics activities are member driven. The day to day

operations are managed at the member level which provides harmony, synergy and symphony.

The tracking mechanism is an innovative (and inexpensive) variation of online tracking

system. Because of its innovation the tracking cost is negligible. The BDO annual revenue is

Rs. 360 million. The size, scalable nature of operations, modular structure, customer service

and negligible errors have kept competition away from this attractive business proposition.

BDO is essentially a homogeneous product flow system in a linear topography. The

present model may not be effective if any of the above conditions are not valid. There is a

tolerance and sympathy shown by (Bombay rail) commuting public to BDO which may not be

feasible in another context. The simple codification system which tracks the lunch boxes would

be a serious constraint to handle multiple products in more than one direction.

There is an attempt to use the BDO infrastructure to do market research etc. This is at

best a temptation. BDO caters to a specific market and customer segment. Therefore any

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market research activity based on this would inherently have less universal applicability. Also,

for the members of BDO (because of their limited educational background) such activities may

be a stretch. Therefore in our view, the growth for BDO would be volume based and is

constrained to either Bombay alone or cities which are very similar to Bombay, in terms of

infrastructure and traffic pattern.

We review the business model, factors behind such an outstanding practices, elements of the

business strategy, opportunities and limitations for its growth.

BDO creates a sense of pride and a source of inspiration to managers and academicians

(world class)

BDO has perfected its systems and procedures to handle large volume of operations

with negligible errors (six sigma)

BDO operations are modular, they are scalable and flexible enough to handle volume

(Flexible business strategy)

BDO operations are customer centric, employee driven, and value based

BDO is an example where flexibility in operational procedure takes precedence over

precision (Prioritized objectives)

The output accuracy (the number of transactions delivered on time) is supported by

flexible infrastructure and time buffers in the delivery system (Strategy enablers)

The management practices at BDO are intuition based (codification system,

homogeneous employee background, innovative Human Resource practices et c.)

Several contextual factors are combined to develop an excellent business model

(inexpensive manpower availability, need for home food, urban transport infrastructure,

unique traffic flow pattern etc.)

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BDO has no unique scientific and or technological breakthroughs or competences. It is

an excellent business model based on an innovative approach to satisfy a real (and

unique) customer need (Innovation based strategy).

MEETING THE DABBAWALA

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QUESTIONNAIRE FOR DABBAWALAS

Name:………………………………………………………………………………………

Place:………………………………………………………………………………………

Designation:………………………………………………………………………………...

1. Who are the dabbawala’s?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………

2. What is the type of service provided by the dabbawala’s?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………

3. What is the history of the dabbawala’s?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………

4. What is the name of the association of the dabbawala’s?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………….

5. What is the organizational structure?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

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6. What are the rules and policies of the dabbawala’s?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

7. What is the function of the organization?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

8. What is the pricing of this service?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

9. Who are the clients?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

10. What is the number of clients?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

11. What is the rate of error?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

12. What happens if the Tiffin gets lost?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

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13. What is the distribution network process?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

14. How do you identify the destination and origin of the Dabba’s?

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

15. Does the organization provide any benefits to its members?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

16. What do you do if someone remains absent?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

17. What is the total number of members?

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

18. What are the vehicles used to transport the dabba’s?

………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………

19. What if the railways are not working?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

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20. What is the remuneration system?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

21. What are the problems faced by the dabbawala’s nowadays?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

22. What are the awards and felicitations given to the dabbawala’s?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

23. What is the effect of all the recognition the dabbawala’s have received?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Discussions:

Manish Tripathi, Director, Mumbai Dabbawala

Gangaram Talekar, Secretary, Mumbai Dabbawala

Nitin Dumbhare, Mumbai Dabbawala

Ashok, Mumbai Dabbawala

Case Studies & References:

Subrata N. Chakravarty and Nazneen Karmali, "Fast Food", Forbes Global, October 8,

1998.

Ajay Kumar Chourasia and CSV Ratna, Dabbawalas: Foodline of Mumbai, ICFAI

Press, Hyderabad (ICFAI Case No. 804-020-1).

Tanya Chaitanya, Thinking out of the box, Times News Network, February 8, 2004.

Sanghamitra Chakraborty, India Inc's date with tiffinwallahs, Times News Network,

Saturday, September 21, 2002

Dabbawalas of Mumbai (A), Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western

Ontario, Case No. 9B04D0111998.

Dabbawalas await their date with Prince Charles, Afternoon Despatch & Courier,

October 30, 2003

Dabbawalas — epitome of management skills, Times News Network, January 18,

2004.

N. Ravichandran (2004), Logistics: The Bombay Dabbawala's Operations, Presentation

in INFORMS Meeting, Denver, Oct. 24-27, 2004.

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Sheela Raval, Soul Food, India Today, June 7, 2004

Monirupa Shete, Tiffins are god's gift to the hungry, Times News Network, Monday,

July 26, 2004

Gangaram Talekar and Raghunath Medge (2005), Six Sigma in Practice: Bombay

Dabbawala Operations, Invited Presentation in 37th Annual Convention of Operational

Research Society of India, Ahmedabad, January 8-11, 2005.

The Amazing story of Mumbai Dabbawalas, By : Shailena Varma, Logistics Manager,

Target

Websites:

www.mydabbawala.com

www.bschool.nus.edu.sg

www.sixsigmaquality.com

www.managementhelp.org

www.knowthis.com

www.12manage.com

www.physorg.com/news70641995.html

www.aahang.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/lessons-from-mumbai-dabbawalas/

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