The Dabbaway A Post—Event Report

Dr. Pawan G. Agrawal, the CEO of the Nu-tan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Associa-tion, started off his seminar to a packed IFIM auditorium on the 12th of February by explaining what the word ‘Dabbawala’ meant. He said, “Dabba means tiffin, and wala is the person who carries it. Thus, a dabbawala is a person who carries tiffin from the customer’s house to his work-place.” Well, that’s what it sounds like when the work is simplified, but once Dr. Agrawal got into the intricate details, the audience really understood and appreci-ated what it means being a Dabbawala of Mumbai.

So, what can one learn from the Dab-bawalas? Dr. Agrawal summed it all up suc-cinctly into nine points – passion; commit-ment; consistency; 100% execution; accu-racy; dedication; time management; com-plete customer satisfaction. In his seminar, he touched upon all these points, and with

real life examples demonstrated how the dabbawalas achieved this despite having a workforce of five thousand, majority of who were educated only up to 8th stand-ard. Operating for 122 years, the Dab-bawalas have never thought of expanding their business. This is because they have to travel long distances, and the elaborate local train system of the city aids them in accom-plishing that in the least time

possible. The efficient long distance travel-ling is one of the reasons they have 1 er-ror in 16,000,000 transactions, giving the or-ganization an accuracy rate of 99.99966, which eventu-ally got them their Six Sigma Certification.

During his research years, when Dr. Agrawal had asked one of the dabbawalas about this achievement, he had replied saying, “If you’re doing the same work every day, how can you make a mistake in that?”

Dr. Agrawal also explained the unique cod-ing system which could easily be identified by the semi-literate employees, and which allowed them to identify the source and destination of each tiffin box, and also which employee would be delivering it and receiving it. Their efficient supply chain which has been the focus of numerous case studies was explained with the help of

a step-by-step animated route map of a dabbawa-la on his daily circuit. Amidst all of the hype that has been created over the years about the organization, the Dab-bawalas have always kept their core principles in mind when going about their work – Customer is God. In today’s day and age, where cut-throat competition is prevalent

in every industry, the biggest of companies tend to overlook such simple things, and this presents a lesson to all of us. The mes-sage at the end of the day was greatness is not achieved by performing great deeds, but is achieved by doing the smaller things with great dedication and consistency. The seminar drew to a close with an inter-active Q&A session, where corporate

guests, media representatives and stu-dents alike asked him various questions showing their eagerness to learn more from Dr. Agrawal. He even honoured Prof. Raj Chakraborty and all the people who asked questions by presenting them with a Gandhi-Topi and a miniature tiffin box (dabba). The guests and students then made their way to the respective refresh-ment areas, and finally ‘Dabbaway’ was successfully concluded, with every visitor a little more enlightened about life and how to go about it.