CASE STUDY ON MUMBAI

DABBAWALA’S

Presented By:- Aditi Sood Aneesh Kumar Anurag Singh Ankit Nawrang Kritika Sharma Shivam Chaurasia

founder

Mahadeo Havaji Bachche

Founder

Raghunath Medge

President

INTRODUCTION A dabbawala is a person in India, most commonly in Mumbai, who

is part of a delivery system that collects hot food in Lunch boxes from the residences of workers in the late morning, delivers the lunches to the workplace, predominantly using bicycles and the railway trains, and returns the empty boxes to the worker's residence that afternoon. They are also made use of by meal suppliers in Mumbai where they ferry ready, cooked meals from central kitchens to the customers and back.

They are formally known as MTBSA (Mumbai Tiffin box Suppliers Association), but most people refer to them as the dabbawalas.

The dabbawalas originated when India was under British rule. Since many British people who came to India did not like the local food, a service was set up to bring lunch to their offices straight from their home.

Today, businessmen in modern Mumbai use this service and have become the main customers of the dabbawalas.

Several academic institutions regularly invite the dabbawalas’ representatives for discussion, and to complement and enhance their academic content. At times, businesses find it useful to illustrate the application of how such a system uses Six Sigma principles to improve its operations.

In Mumbai, most office workers prefer to eat home-cooked food in their workplace rather than eat outside at a food stand or at a local restaurant, usually for reasons of taste and hygiene, hence the concept.

Office-goers in Mumbai usually leave at 7 a.m. and do not get back until after 7 p.m. Most of them commute from suburbs of Mumbai and travel south to the main commercial area of Mumbai. The railway network during the peak hours is jam-packed with commuters hanging on the trains with one hand. Thus bringing one’s lunch at that time is not feasible.

Offices often do not provide a canteen or cafeteria service for their employees. Eating on the roadside is unhealthy and unhygienic.

By delivering to each employee his tiffin or lunch filled with food prepared at his home, the dabbawalas solve the problem for an estimated 200,000 people. They charge between Rs.600 to Rs.1000 , per dabba per month, depending on the location and collection time.

PROCESS

9:30-10:30 amPickup dabba from residence & bring it to the nearest rail station

10:30-11:20amJourney in local train

11:20 am-12:30 pmUnloading and sorting at destination station

2:30-3:30 pmSorting at destination station

1:15-2:30 pmCollection of empty dabba

12:30-1:00 pmDelivery to respectivve customers

3:30-4:40 pmReturning dabba to residence

CODING SYSTEM OF DABBAWALAS

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

GENERAL SECRETARY

TREASURER

DIRECTORS (9)

MUKADAM

MEMBERS (5000)

Sustainable Enterprise Sustainable enterprise is one that is aligned and coexist with society. Dabbawalas of Mumbai operate a business enterprise that provides

financial opportunity for migrant workers. Dabbawalas use existing public transportation , bicycles and

handcarts to get the job done. Symbols and special letter number combination on the lids tell the

Dabbawalas where each tin is going. Over 200000 lunches are delivered a day and even though there’s no

computerized fed ex tracking system. The Dabbawalas are base in Mumbai and this system is eco-friendly. Provides employment to low-income members of the community and

use the cheap labour to deliver lunches.

Base of pyramid

WealthyEmerging

Middle Class

Low Income Markets

0.5 Billion

1.5 Billion

4 Billion <$1500

$1500-$20000

>$20,000

Purchasing Power Parity in US Dollars

Populations in Millions

Critical success factorsFlexible InfrastructureCustomer Co-operationAppropriate Network StructureCodification systemTopographyProcess CapabilityRedundancyCoordinationStructureCompensation

CHALLENGESEmployee enagagementFinancial terms & InflationTransportationweatherOperating costsRelationship between managers and

workersUpcoming competitors

CONCLUSIONExcellent time management.Very less errors.Though illiterate but are becoming a legend for

literatesWork on great ethicsHard work and sincerity are the main factors in

their successThey are great example of efficient service

provider.

Discipline: Dabbawalas are extremely disciplined professionals. Maintaining accuracy in every 2,60,000 transactions/per day is not an easy task and there is no place for any indiscipline. For a dabbawala “Error is Equal to Horror”, and they have maintained 100% track record of on-time delivery. Mistakes are extremely rare.

Important Management Lesson – “A well-disciplined team has the capability to deliver error-free results in some of the most critical situations too.”

Organization: Each dabbawala collect lunchbox from allocated locality and delivers the same on assigned location within given timeframe. Lunch box is then organized and taken to different destinations via public transportation. It’s once again rearranged and delivered to given address before lunch. Same process is repeated anti-clock wise and lunch box is delivered to their owners by evening. Just imagine all the skill it takes to organize and timely deliver around 2 Lakh lunchbox in mere six hours a day.

Important Management Lesson – “If you have a well-structured team, where each member is aware of their responsibilities and perform their duties on time, desired result can be achieved effortlessly.”

Work Management: If a team member is not able to perform his work or fall sick, someone is always there to manage his task. There is no legitimated retirement age of dabbawala, even a senior worker help others and is paid same salary. There is no room for error but a backup is triggered if something unexpected interrupts the process. Each dabbawala works in synergy to achieve the same goal of “on-time delivery”.

Important Management Lesson – “If a team focus on end goal, nothing can stop them to deliver unexpected results.”

Time Management: Time is crucial. Dabbawalas can’t be late. They have to deliver lunchbox before lunch on given address. Hence, their entire work depends on effective time management. Each task has to be completed within given timeframe. If someone is not able to do so, alternatives are performed immediately.

Important Management Lesson – “Time is crucial and success of a project lies in efficient time management.”

Simple, Flexible & Accurate Process: Dabbawalas use zero technology or software to manage their work. Every code that they use is simple and has basic information like, street/floor address (office and residence both). They use a standard organization method which does not change. The tiffins used for delivers are of same structure and have standard codes. Visual data is used to remember key facts like who is the owner of lunch box, etc.

Important Management Lesson – “Simple and standard codes/rules can help with better organization. Minimal usage of technology is not bad. Focus should be given to more user specific and visual data. Complex systems can slower entire work process.”

Strong Culture of Belonging – A dabbawala remain in his group for his entire life. Hence, the essence of friendship, care and bonding is high and it helps them to work on mutual understanding. Having same code of conduct and dress make them unique and easy to find.

Important Management Lesson – “Mutual understanding and a sense of belonging is extremely important in a team. It enhances performance, quality of work and indirectly adds value to an organization’s work culture.”

Thank You