Dabbawallahas of Mumbai

History and Introduction

Mumbai Dabbawala - carrying and delivering freshly

made food from home in in Dabba i.e. lunchbox to office workers Managed by Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust 5000 strong organization started with one employee in 1885 128 years old and growth 5-10% annually (NY Times2007) Mission is to serve customers on time Three point success formula
Timely delivery Courteous attitude and behavior Understanding special needs of customer

Organizational Structure
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
Executive Committee of 13 Members

Executive committee
Elected after every 5 years Organized monthly

GENERAL SECRETARY

meetings Dealt with operational issues

Mukadam
Team lead of 5-8 Sorting, apprentice

TREASURER

DIRECTORS ( 9 )

MUKADAMS

MEMBERS ( 5000 )

training, maintaining payment records, dispute resolution, client base expansion and customer satisfaction
Profit Center
Aggregation of 7-8

Mukadams to form a group

Operations
SC of Dubbawallahas
Pick up Dabbas from Residence/Caterer Bicycle/pushcart drive to nearest suburban railway station
Sorting according to destinations Local train journey to hubs Unloading and bundling at major hubs Local train journey to destination

Unloading and bundling at major hubs Local train journey to source station

Collection of Empty Dabbas Sorting according to destinations Local train journey to hubs

Unloading and sorting at Destination station. Delivery to respective customers.

Unloading at source station Returning Dabbas to Residence/Caterer

Operations
Flow of operations
Hub1: Dadar
1 2

Point of Aggregation And Sorting

Hub2 : Bandra Hub3 :Andheri

A B C D

E
Hub4 : Kurla

5 6 7

Distribution By Carriers at lunchtime To offices

Collection from home

A, B, C, D and E: Suburban source stations 1 to 9 : Destination stations

Operations
Delivery Code

Analysis
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Strengths Teamwork, honesty and discipline Time management Sense of ownership Low operational cost Customer Satisfaction No dependency on fuel, technology and investment

1) 2) 3) 4)

Weakness High dependence on local trains Funds for association Limited access to education Limited scope s for members for diversification to other jobs

Opportunities 1) Tie ups with caterers for variety of foods 2) Opportunity of expansion on other routes with Metro and BRTS 3) Generation of revenue by promoting other brands

SWOT Analysis
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Threats (Impact on future business) Shrinking customer base and customer loyalty Fast food joints and small restaurants Work from home culture/Flexi timing Paper food vouchers and smart cards like Food Plus by HDFC Catering services offering Tiffin services

Performance Statistics
Six Sigma Performance
Error of one in 16 million transactions (99.999999%

accuracy ) No technological backup to achieve this accuracy

Cost of service
200 to 300 per month
Varies as per time, distance, ease of collection and

destination
Turnover is Rs. 42 Crores annually

[1,75,000*200*12= 42 Crores]
Earnings per member is Rs.5000-6000

Management Learning
Keep operational costs low

Keep capital investment bare minimum

Never deviate from your core competency Just serve your customer and nothing else Built services around existing infrastructure Commitment matters and not just the qualification Know the implications of the failure

References
http://www.dabbawala.in/

http://mumbaidabbawala.in/
Dr. Pawan Agarwal Speeches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZVTZivWwbg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N25inoCea24

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keywor

d/dabbawalas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala