A case study on

What is a Dabbawala……

A dabbawala is a person ,whose work is to serve fresh

food from home to office.

For the efficiency of their supply chain, it has been claimed

that this virtually achieves a Six Sigma performance rating

(i.e. 99.9999%) of deliveries are made without error).

The dabbawala began functions during British rule and it is

still prevalent.

Started in the year 1880.

Registered in year 1959.

Average qualification = 8th grade schooling.

Total area coverage=60 kms.

Employee strength = 5000 (approximately)

Time taken = 3 hrs.

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• No alcohol drinking in business hours .

• Wearing white cap during business hours.

• Always keep i-card .

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Achievements and Recognition

*Featured in “Ripley’s believe it or not”.

*Documentaries made by BBC,UTV,MTV and ZEE TV.

*Name in “GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD” for “BEST TIME

MANEGMENT”.

LOGISTIC

Logistic is happening 24 hrs a day , 7 days per week,

and 53 weeks per year.

Follows a fluent and divided network chain.

Effective and updated information system.

Cost effective and on-time transportation.

Coding :

10.30 am – 11.20 am – journey time.

11.20 am – 12.30 pm – unloading takes place at the destination. Here rearrangement takes place as per destination area and buildings.

1.15 pm – 2.00 pm – dabbawalas start collecting all the dabbas from where they delivered .

2.00 pm – 2.30 pm - Group members meet for the segregation as per the destination superb .

2.50 pm – 3.30 pm – return by train.

3.30 pm – 4.00 pm – sorting and dispatching of dabbas takes place as per the origin areas.

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Management by Dabbawalas

*By keeping cost as less as possible:Dabbawalas use cycles , hand cart, local train .

No big office to maintain.

Avg. monthly service at Rs.250.

*Keep capital investment bare minimum. low cost offices.

Use public space for sorting.

Means of transportation is very cheap.

*Customer is not Raja- but Maharaja.Dabbawalas always deliver foods even during heavy rain.

On time without wearing a watch.

Don’t try to impress/bother the customer with unsolicited offers.

Not completely dependent on technology.For 116 years ,dabbawals , not even use any technical things, yet got six sigma and

is.

Today only mobile phones are used to communicate , only incoming .

Logistic is still manual.

*Co-operation inside, competition outside.There are 2-3 dabbawala group in each segment.

Collection in dabbawals is groupwise ,but transportation is shared with other group.

Compition is only upto collection.

Profit is shared equally each group after deducting expenses .

World’s most democratic organisation.

*Commitment matters , qualification doesn’t.Almost 80% dabbawals are illitarate.

15% are class 8 failed.

Still they offer world class services to customer as they are committed to do so.

If commitment is there ,qualification can built.

*Know the implication of failure. If customer don’t get delivery on time then work will suffer.

Problem may arises with BOSS and WIFE.

If a vegiterian gets non-veg food, it’s a major mistake.

Knowing the implication of failure makes you more responsible.

*Build your service around existing infrastructure.Dabbawalas use fast, reliable , cheap existing local train for transportation .

Many companies use their own infrastructure , which tough to maintain.

3- sigma ,out of six sigma most be given to local train.

Built infrastructure increase cost to server.

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Less dependent on technology.

Have not evolved their business .

Functional area is limited, only operates in Mumbai.