SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF

DABBAWALAS

PRESENTED BY:

Aravinth.P

Priyaranjan Jena

Ramsankar Shroff

R. Siddharath

Saurabh Jain
What is NMTBSA

Nutan
Mumbai
Tiffin
Box
Suppliers
Association
About NMTBSA

v History: Started in 1890(with only 25

member)

v Charitable trust: registered in 1956

v President and secretary: Rughunath
Megde and Gangaram Talekar.
v Average literacy rate: 8th grade school
v Total area coverage: 60-70 kms
v Error rate: 1 in 6 million transactions by
Forbes 2000 article.
CONTINUED…
…..
Employee strength: 5000
No of Tiffin: 2,00,000 i.e. 4,00,000
transactions everyday
Time taken: 3 hours.
Quality door to door service to large
and loyal customer base.
Even order can be placed through
internet.
Our Belief- WORK IS WORSHIP

TIFFIN basket’s weight : 75-80 kgs.

 ASSETS

For each dabbawala

Two bicycles- approx Rs 4000
A wooden crate of Rs 500
Cotton Kurta pajama – Rs 600
And Gandhi Topi – Rs 20
 Coding system
VP
VP:
VP Vile Parle (suburb in 9
Mumbai)
E 3 EX
9EX12: Code for Dabbawalas at 12
destination
EX: Express towers ( building
name)
12: Floor number
E: Code for Dabbawala at
residential station
3: Code for destination station
(Nariman point)
THE Flow logic
ZONE OF DESTINATION

GRANT 1
ROAD
2
(12)
3
CHRUCHGAT
POINT OF AGGREGATION
E 4
AND SORTING

(1-10) 5
A 6
E LOWER
PAREL 7
B D (14)
C DISTRIBUTION
B Y CARRIERS
AT LUNCHTIME
TO OFFICES

COLLECTION FROM HOME

 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

Executive
committee
(5 members)

Team of 20-25 headed

by group leader

Individual dabbawalas
workload:
Collect from home- 35 tiffins
Deliver at office- 35 tiffins
Return empty tiffins to home-
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
 Working of NMTBSA

Six sigma performance (99.999999)

Technological backup nil
Cost of service: Rs. 300 per month( $ 6
per month)
Turnover: Rs. 36 cr.
Earnings: Rs. 5000-6000 per month.
Diwali Bonus : One month’s from
customers.
 COMPANY WITH EXCELLENCE

Zero % fuel & investment

Zero % disputes
100 % customer satisfaction
99.9999 %performance
 Elegant logistics

ü Elegant logistics system – using 25 kms of

public transport , 10 kms of footwork involving
multiple transfer points.
ü A simple color code determines not only
packet , routine but packet prioritizing as lunch
is transferred from train to bicycle to foot.
 Journey begins

ü Tiffins are collected from home between 7:00 –

9:00 am and taken to the nearest railway station.
ü Single Tiffin while reaching the destination could
change hands 3-4 times daily.
 The actual journey begins

ü 10:34 – 11.20 am (Vile Parle Station)

ü At this time the actual work of
dabbawalas take place.
ü They load the wooden crates filled with
Tiffin onto the luggage or goods
compartment in the train.
 11:20 – 12:30 pm (Church gate
station)
At this stage the unloading takes place at the
destination station.
Re-arrangement of tiffins take place as per the
destination area and buildings.
In particular area with high density of customers
(Nariman Point, Fort , CST ) a special crate is
dedicated.
This crate carries 150 tiffins and is driven by 3-4
dabbawalas.
 Return journey
1:15- 2:00 pm (At all destination
stations)
Here on begins the collection process where the
dabbawalas have to pick the tiffins from the
offices where they had delivered almost an hour
ago.
2:00- 2:30 pm –they meet for the segregation as
per the destination suburbs.
2:48 – 3:30 pm
The return journey by train where the group
finally meet after the day’s routine.
3:30- 4:00 pm (the origin station)- here final
sorting and dispatch takes place as per the origin
area.
FIVE DIMENSION IN SERVICE
MARKETING
FIVE DIMENSION IN SERVICE
MARKETING
 FIVE DIMENSION IN
SERVICE MARKETING
FIVE DIMENSION IN SERVICE
MARKETING
 Direct marketing

Dabbawala can provide more than lunch

Now they delivers Mutual funds
An extra income of 50 to 100 rupees for
Dabbawalas.
 SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Weaknesses:
Simplicity in High
organization with dependability on
Innovative
service local trains
Coordination, Funds for the
team spirit, & association
time
management Limited Access to
Education
Low operation
cost, High
Efficiency
Opportunities
Wide range publicity
Operational cost is low
Mumbai being a Hotspot.
Railways
Coding System.

Threats
Indirect competition is being faced from caterers like
maharaja community
Indirect threats from fast foods and hotels
Change in timings
Company transport
Ticket restaurant
Other sources of income
Management learning’s from
Dabbawala
Keep operating costs as low as
possible
Keep Capital investment
minimum
Customer is not Raja-But
Maharaja
Never deviate from Core
competency
Flat organization
Commitment
Implication of failure
Recent Advancements

Tie-up with Microsoft

Visit of Prince charles, Richard
Branson
New website opened
Order by SMS
A DAY WITH DABBAWALA
AWARDS & Achievements…
Name in GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD
RECORDS.
Registered with Ripley’s “ believe it or not”.
World record in best time management
Achievement of SIX SIGMA
..cont
AWARDS & Achievements…

In 1998, it was awarded SIX SIGMA QUALITY

RATING from FORBES GLOBAL MAGAZINE.
Documentaries like
Ø ‘DABBAWALAS, MUMBAI’S UNIQUE LUNCH SERVICE’

Ø ‘THE DABBAWALLAS’

Invitation to speak at CII, IIM - Bangalore and

Mumbai.
Invited to marriage of Hon. Price Charles of
England on 9 , April 2005.
 AWARDS & Achievements

Included in a subject in Graduate School of

Journalism University of California,
Berkeley.
Radio —
German Radio Network 

Radio Mirchi

Radio Mid-day

FM — Gold

BBC Radio
Thank you