complete structure and working of mumbai dabbawala and their life cycle of working and operations

1. The Dabbawalla
-Madhumitha
-Sneh Salila
-Yashika Atre
-Abhishek Kamble
-Harsh Jain
-Pradeep

2. Who are dabbawalas???
• Dabba( meaning box or tiffin) wala
• Meaning the carriers of tiffin box
• Their job is to carry home made food to
office workers
• MISSION : “To serve their customer ON TIME
“

4. HISTORY
The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers
Trust(NMTBST)
PAST :
• Started in 1880 or 1890
• Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started with about
100 men
• Unified the Dabbawalas
• Started for the British people

5. Organisation
Present :
• Employees/Partners: 5000
• Number of Tiffin boxes per day : 2,00,000
• Number of Transactions : 4,00,000
• Time : 180 minutes
• Cost of service : 200 INR (@ 5$ a month)
• Total Turnover : 50,00,00,000
• Industrial Growth : 5-10 % each year
• Education : 85 % illiterate
• Total Area Coverage : 60km/70km

6. Dabbawala Community
• Come from the rural area of Maharashtra, about 200
kilometres east of Mumbai from places like Rajgurunagar,
Akola, Ambegaon, Junnar, and Maashi
• Are the descendants of soldiers of the legendary
Maharashtrian warrior-king, Shivaji
• They belong to the Malva caste
• The trainees, always belong to the family of an older
dabbawala who takes care of the training
• They belong to families of small farmers and still work in the
fields from time to time.
• There is no idea for returning back to villages for these
dabbawalas unless they are sick or have an accident, or are
coming home for retirement.

7. Organizational Structure

8. Discipline
• Wearing white caps during business hours
• Reporting to duty on time
• Behave properly and respect customers
• Carry identity cards
• No alcohol drinking during work

9. Believes of Dabbawala
• Work is worship
• Serving people is serving God
• Annadan is Mahadaan
• Time is money
• Unity is power

10. Efficiency
• Uninterrupted working
even on extreme
weather conditions
• Trusted because
customers are well-accustomed
• Easy access to
destinations
• Earlier days, chits were
passed in the Tiffins

11. Working
• High teamwork and accurate timing to complete
their task
• The lunch is packed in a box that is color coded
(Provided by the dabbawalas ) by the customer’s
home maker (Work completed by 9am)
• Once the lunch box is packed, it is transported
using a combination of different transport
modes : Bicycles, local train and walking

13. Coding System

14. Coding De-Mystified

15. Flow Logic

16. One Day Of A Dabbawalla
PICK UP DABBA FROM RESIDENCE & BRING IT TO ANDHERI STATION.
9:30 A.M- 10:30 A.M
•Dabbas are collected from different resources by Dabbawalas & brought to Andheri
Station.
•Now these collected Dabbas are sorted according to Destination
JOURNEY IN THE LOCAL TRAIN
10:34- 11:20 A.M ( Andheri Station)
•This time period is actually the journey time. The Dabbawalas load the wooden Crates
filled with Tiffin on t the luggage or goods compartment in the train.
•Generally, they Choose to Occupy the last compartment of the train of 12 coach train

17. UNLOADING & SORTING AT DESTINATION STATION
11:20- 12:30 P:M ( Church gate Station)
•At this stage; the unloading takes place at the destination station
•re- arrangement at tiffin's takes place as per the destination areas &
destination buildings
•dabbas are delivered by cycle; hand card or even walk.
DABBAWALAS HAVING THEIR FOOD
12:30P.M- 1:00P.M (LUNCH TIME)
•Dabbawalas carry their Food with them
•Areas wise sit together & have their lunch

18. COLLECTION OF EMPTY DABBA & SORTING AT DESTINATIONS STATION
1:15- 2:30 P.M( At all destination stations)
•Here on begins the collection process
•The Dabbawalas meet for the segregation as per the destination suburb
RETURN JOURNEY
2:48- 3:30P:M
•return journey by train
•SORTING AND DELIVERY OF EMPTY DABBA
3:30- 4:40 P.M ( At all Origin Stations.)
•This is the stage where the final sorting & dispatch takes place.
•The actual address of the residence is not mentioned on the Dabba.

20. Six Sigma
• Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and
methodology for eliminating defects
• Measures how many mistakes company commits while
accomplishing a task
• It gives employees well defined roles and clean structure to
their task
• 1 Six Sigma=700,000 Defects/million opportunity
• 2 Six Sigma=300,000 Defects/million opportunity and so on
• Hence
Six Sigma = Perfection

21. Re-defination of Six Sigma by
Dabbawallas
• Error rate : 1 in 16 million transaction
• Six Sigma performance (99.99999)
• Zero % fuel Zero % investment
• Zero % modern technology Zero % Disputes
• 100 % Customer Satisfaction
• Got ISO 9001-2000 for excellence in service.
• Stood high along with MNC’s like Motorola , GE etc

22. Awards and Felicitations
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
Case studies made by:
– ICFAI press Hyderbad and Bengaluru
– Richard Ivey School of Business Canada
– Included as a subject in Graduate school of Journalism,
Unversity of California
Invitations from:
– CAII for conference held in Bengaluru, IIM A,IIM I,CII Cochin, CII
Delhi, Dr. Reddy’s lab foundation Hyderbad, SCMHRD, Sadahana
Pune, Rotary club Bengaluru, NIQR Chennai

23. Achievements
• World record in Best Time Management by
Six-Sigma rating
• Name in “Guiness Book of World Records”
• Registered with Ripley’s “Believe it or not”
• Participitated in “Deal Ya No Deal Contest” in
Sony TV

25. Although the service remains essentially low-tech, with the
barefoot delivery boys as the prime movers, the dabbawalas have
started to embrace technology, and now allow booking for
delivery through SMS. A web site, mydabbawala.com, has
also been added to allow for on-line booking, in order to keep up
with the times. An on-line poll on the web site ensures that
customer feedback is given pride of place.
The success of the system depends on teamwork and time
management that would be the envy of a modern manager. Such
is the dedication and commitment of the barely literate and
barefoot delivery boys (there are only a few delivery women)
who form links in the extensive delivery chain, that there is no
system of documentation at all. A simple color coding system
doubles as an ID system for the destination and recipient. There
are no elaborate layers of management either — just three layers.
Each dabbawala is also required to contribute a minimum capital
in kind, in the shape of two bicycles, a wooden crate for the
Tiffin's, white cotton kurta-pyjamas, and the white trademark
Gandhi topi (cap). The return on capital is ensured by monthly
division of the earnings of each unit. -
Sales@MyDabbawala.Com

26. Order dabbawalas products and services online
Mydabbwalas.com developing software application through
which the people of Mumbai can order dabba service online
through internet .
The order will be booked online and Dabba will be picked up
from your home and will be delivered to office in time

27. Share My Dabba

28. Dabbawala in delhi

29. Organization structure
President
Vice president
Gen Sec
treasurer
Directors(3)
Managers(10)
Workers(3000)

30. Survey in Delhi
DIVERSITY
What kind of language is mostly preffered in Delhi
Language Response
Hindi 63
english 14
others 23
OTHER OPTIONS
OPTIONS RESPONSE
YES 76
NO 24

31. Delhi Metro

32. CODING SYSTEM
PV
KC1
BR2
Office address
2 EX2
IC
Residence station
Changing stations
Destination station
Dabbawala code

33. DIVERSITY
• Delhi has settlers from all over the country.
• Dominance of settlers of one community in a
particular are.
• Large area to cover so have to divide in small
groups
• Employing the local people of these areas to
have an effective communication and better
bonding.

34. Budget
• To serve -1,20,000 people
• 2400-cyclists, 600-metro commuters
• 10 managers(1 manager-100)
1)Yellow-3
2)Blue-3
3)Red-2
4)Rest-1 each
• 1 dabba-Rs 300 per month
• Total income- Rs3,60,00,000

35. Budget
• Metro expenses- Rs 30000
• Managers fee-Rs1,50,000(15000x10)
• Workers fee-Rs 1,80,00,000(6000x3000)
• Directors-Rs 1,20,000(40000x3)
• Van rent- Rs 72,00,000(Rs3000 per van)

36. Drawbacks of Delhi Dabbawala
• Geographical barrier
• Community diversity
• Local eating joints