Alook at the efficiency of Mumbai Dabawala supply chain

1. Premier SCM of NMTBSA
Abhishek Mall
Anand S. Thokal
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2. About the Organization
• Name: NMTBSA
• Started in 1890
• Around 5,000 dabbawalas
• > 200,000 lunchboxes  >400,000 transactions/day
• Total Area Coverage : 60 Kms to 70 Kms
• 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year (- holidays)
• Time Taken : 6 Hours
• Average Literacy Rate : 8th Grade Schooling
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3. Cont…
• Technological backup : Nil.
• Cost of service : Rs. 500/- to 600/- per month
• Earnings : Rs. 10000/- to 12000/- per month.
• Diwali bonus : One month’s extra payment
• “No Strike” record since 1890.
• “No Police Case / Court Case” since 1890
• Error rate : 1 in 16 million transactions
• Six Sigma performance 3

4. Sigma Six
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5. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
MEMBERS ( 5000 )
MUKADAMS (800)
DIRECTORS ( 9 )
TREASURER
GENERAL
SECRETARY
Vice President
President
15 Members
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6. Why Mumbai Dabbawalas???
• Carrying dabbas difficult in crowded trains
• Expense of out-side food
• Preference for home-cooked food
• Poor quality of office cafeterias
• Lunches prepared at home and delivered by the dabbawalas after the morning rush
hour
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7. 4 Reasonsthe DabbawalaSC Succeeds While Corporate
Giants Struggle
• No over-reliance on technology
• Create an integrated performance chain: As a whole
• Acute visibility: Understand exactly is happening
and when. All know what to do
• Keep it simple. Real simple: Give customers what
they want, don’t try anything else
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8. Supply Chain
• Key: Mumbai Suburban Railway (Mumbai local trains)
• Bicycles and handcarts to travel short distances
Workers have 40
seconds to load
the crates of
dabbas onto a
train at major
stations and just
20 seconds at
interim stops.
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9. Success Mantra of NMTBSA
1. SCM
2. Coding System
3. Employees
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10. 1. SCM
• Dabbawalas use cycles or go by foot to household: waiting time 2 minutes
• Dabbawalas has to assemble at reported collection point at sharp 9. 30 am: nearest
railway station
• The next mode of transport is the trains
• From Destination station the dabbas are carried to the destination zones
• Then the lunch boxes are carried to the offices: Lunchtime
• From here the reverse process starts
• No slack at any point of time 10

11. 2. Coding System
• BVI: Borivali, a suburb in Mumbai. This denotes the residential station
• 9 RC 14: Code for Dabbawalas at destination. This user code is different for each
customer
• RC: Raheja Chambers, name of a building or office
• 14: Floor Number
• E: Code for Dabbawala at Destination station. For example, E is a code for Nariman
Point, Churchgate
• Jain: Name/Surname of the customer
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12. 3. Employees
• Work is Worship
• Customer is GOD
• No Alternate to Hardwork
• Importance of Human Values
No Alcohol Drinking / Smoking
during business hours
Wearing White Cap during
business hours
Carry Identity Card
No Leave without Prior Notice
Traffic Jams, pedestrians, delays in train and
signals do not stop the functioning. The
trademark white cap wore by these
Dabbawalas are known to everyone
including the police who don’t interfere in
their process
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13. Key Features
• Organization Turnover is about Fourty Crores annually
• Uninterrupted and on time service delivered
• Dabbawalas are well used to the local areas
• No error
• During the working hours, they do not take a break
• 0% Fuel reliant
• Do not use any modern technology
• There are no disputes; no presence of any union
• Unique organization with Six Sigma designation and 99.99% rate of performance
• Cost of Service per lunch box = Rs. 450 per month and is standard price for all
• Customer Satisfaction accounts 100% with utmost trust
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14. Economic Analysis
• Each dabbawala, regardless of role, is paid about eight thousand rupees per month.
• One month’s Diwali bonus from customers.
• The New York Times reported in 2012 that the 125-year-old dabbawala industry
continues to grow at a rate of 5–10% per year.
• Zero % fuel, zero % investment, zero % modern technology, zero % disputes,
99.9999% performance & 100 % customer satisfaction
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15. • Teamwork, discipline, honesty
• Customer satisfaction
• Service delivery of six sigma
• Service commitment
• Satisfaction of team member
• Delivery model through colour coding
• Financial independence.
• Just in time approach
• Highly dependent on Mumbai local trains
• Limited fund flow of the association
limits the governing body to implement
welfare schemes
• Limited Access to Education, limit
diversification of members to other
business jobs
• Threats from fast food joints & small
restaurants
• Natural Calamities
• Food courts at mall mega structures
• Catering services offering tiffin services
• Paper food vouchers & smart cards i.e.
food plus by HDFC
• Tie up with caterers to serve variety of
meals i.e. diet food, Chinese/continental
food, food for fasting
• Opportunity on the expansion of
services on the routes of Mumbai metro
& BRTS
• Generating revenue by promotion of
other brands
• Expanding networks in other cities
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SWOT

16. • COMPETITORS:
• The major competitors of Mumbai dabbawala are Magic-o-meal, Food plus by HDFC,
Fast Food chains, restaurants, road-side vendors, Udipi chain, food box etc.
Competition is different here no manufacturing, only distribution.
But, Home food – The USP
of Dabbawala nullifies the
threat.
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17. Achievements
• Documentaries made by BBC ,UTV, MTV, ZEE TV, AAJ TAK, TV TODAY, SAHARA SAMAY,
STAR TV, CNBC TV 18, CNN, SONY TV, TV TOKYO, NDTV.
• Included in a subject in Graduate School of Journalism University of California,
Berkeley.
• Invited for the Terra Madre World meeting of food communities in Italy between
October 20-23, 2004.
• Invited to marriage of Hon. Price Charles of England on 9, April 2005.
• Invitation from CII for conference held in Bangalore, IIML, IIMA, CII Cochin, CII Delhi,
Dr. Reddy’s Lab.,
• Foundation Hyderabad, SCMHRD Pune, SCMHRD Nasik, Sadahana Pune.
• Name in “GUINESS BOOK of World Records”.
• Part of the “Community of Cooked Food distributors from Mumbai”.
• Radio – German Radio Network, Radio Mirchi, Radio Mid-day, FM –Gold, BBC Radio.
• Registered with Ripley's “believe it or not”.
• World record in best time management.
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18. Thank You
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