University of Mumbai A Project on "Dabbawalas, Mumbai's unique lunch service” (Study on MTBSA) (Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association) Submitted By Pratiksha Ghadge Project Guide: Mr.Bhupendra Singh Saini
Semester V Bachelor of Management Studies.
Jai Bharat College of Commerce, Mulund (West) Mumbai. Year-2009-2010
Declaration I, Pratiksha Suresh Ghadge Student of Jai Bharat College of T.Y.B.M.S (SEM V) hereby declare that I have completed the project on “Dabbawalas Mumbai’s Unique Lunch Service” Study on MTBSA in the academic year 2011-2012 the information is true and best of my knowledge.
Pratiksha Suresh Ghadge T.Y.B.M.S (SEM V) Jai Bharat College of Commerce
Acknowledgement I hereby present report, which I have under taken during my project. I have learnt many aspects about “NMTBSA” and this certainly have widened my fact and made a note on it. After observing each and every aspects of “NMTBSA” From Various Web sites and Book. I have tried to put all together in this report which would either appear incomplete or based on incomplete information and not on detailed study. But according to me, this do demand due consideration. I also hereby express my sincere gratitude to our Mr. Bhupendra Singh Saini who is my project guide and who had suggested me to do this project. I really thank him for helping me to choose this topic, which I intended to study about. It due to his undaunted support and faith in me that I have been able to complete this project to the best of my efforts.
Mumbai University Jai Bharat College Mulund (west)
JAI BHARAT COLLEGE OF COMMERCE (AFFILIATED TO UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI)
O/B 8(1-10), Mulund Colony, Mulund (W), Mumbai – 400 082
BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (BMS)
CERTIFICATE This is to certify that “PRATIKSHA GHADGE” has satisfactorily carried out the Project work on the topic “MTBSA” for the Vth Semester of T.Y.B.M.S, in academic year 2009-10. Place: __________ Date: ___________
________________
______________________
Signature of Examiner
Principal of Jai Bharat College
_____________ BMS Coordinator
STUDY OBJECTIVE: We study any process with the perspective of studying how well that system works or what can be done to improve the process. With this perspective we studied the Dabbawallah process to understand how well they apply concept of Supply Chain Management in their process. We know the theoretical concept of the supply chain management but to understand Supply Chain Management of any process we need to understand that practically. Supply chain can be defined as the physical, financial and information networks for the logistic movement, process of materials, funds and related information. Participants of supply chain include all vendors, service providers and customers. Success of any company in the logistics field depends on planning and facilitating movement of the right things, at the right time, at the right place, and at the right cost.
Introduction: Wherever you may be staying in Mumbai, in whichever corner you may be having your work-place in this metropolis of one crore plus population, you never ever fail to receive your home food in time at the lunch hour in your work-place!! Thanks to the network of the tiffin-patiwalas that has been functioning in an amazing way for the last 120 years and recognized as the best case of network management in the world even by the management gurus. Home-food so lovingly cooked by the mother, sister or bhabhi at home with all care and love for the taste, hygiene and quality that the "Roti-earner" of the family has a right and privilege to savor to his full nourishment, reaches thousands of mill-workers, officegoers and executives on their tables in their work-place miles away in the most punctual and error-proof system. This is the consistent performance of the 'Dibbawala' or 'Tiffinwala', as they are affectionately called by all Mumbaikars. Attired in the most typical dress composed of half sleeved open shirt, pyjama or pant, a 'Gandhi cap' covering the head, Kolhapuri Chappals in the feet, this Tiffinwala carries a wooden case on his head with 20 to 25 tiffins in it. If you see a man with a fast pace of walk, not affected by the dense traffic during the rush hours, do recognize him without fail as the Tiffinwala - the hunger-cracker of the working class Mumbaikar. About 10 to 15 years ago, it was rather impossible to think about Mumbai sans the Dibbawala . The most prolific column-writer, who Mumbaikars lost forever just a few days ago, Behram 'Busybee' Contractor, wrote some time in the past
referring to these Dibbawalas as the lifeline of the service class or middle class Mumbaikars. If you are a new entrant to Mumbai and if you try to board any local train during the rush hours between 9 AM and 11 AM in the morning towards South Mumbai and during 5 PM to 8 PM in the evening towards the suburbs, rest assured, you are likely to faint. Leave aside boarding the train, even seeing it may meet the same result. But, in this unparalleled density of traffic, this is the daily encounter for this stoutly built serious looking sober Dibbawala. Fortunately the railways have given a special reserved compartment to them next to the guard's cabin on certain suburban trains. Don't be surprised if you happen to peep into this compartment to see as many as 700 to 800 Tiffin‘s!! Humans too. The Dabbawallas business was founded by Mahadeo Havaji Bacche who inaugurated The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust´ with a handful of illiterate employees and without any capital investment. "Tiffin" was a nostalgic term used by British for "light food". However, people call them Dabbawallas as they carry a "Dabba" meaning "box". Almost 5000Dabbawalas deliver and collect more than 200,000 lunch boxes very day, across the entire Mumbai. The most interesting fact is that these people do not use any modern technology, yet they have never failed to deliver the lunch boxes on time - irrespective of weather, riots, floods, etc. with an error coefficient of one in 16,000,000 boxes. This is more than Six Sigma- a quality that most businesses strive to achieve. A study conducted by Six Sigma concludes that excellent efficiency and reliability is achieved by the Dabbawallas through competitive collaboration with team members and efficient management of logistics. Though the work sounds simple, it is actually a highly specialized trade that is over a century old and which has become integral to Mumbai's culture. Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is a 120 year old organization operating in Mumbai city, India. In Mumbai most of the population travel everyday for about 100 kilometers to reach their work place, and since they tend to leave their residence early in the morning it is hard for their family members to prepare lunch during such a time, and even if they do prepare it is very much hard to carry it in the local train since it is too crowded. So it makes sense for them to hire Dabbawalas to deliver the lunch box at their work place in
the afternoon, fresh and hot. The activity of the Dabbawalas involve collection, sorting, transferring and delivering the lunch boxes at customers work place and again the process is repeated in reverse way. They have to deliver 2,00,000 such lunch boxes every day, and they have been awarded Six Sigma for their operation, which means that they make one error in every 16 million transactions. This puts them in the list with MNC‘s like GE and Motorola.
History of dabbawallas That was the time when Bombay was growing and new government offices were coming up. A Parsi banker who was working in one of the offices loved his wife. So he wanted to love her even in the office, so he hired a person who could deliver the lunch, off course prepared by his wife, from home to office. Then he hired a coli to do the job of delivering lunch to his office from his house. The name of coli was Mahadeo Havaji Bachche. A person from north Maharashtra. Now here‘s the opportunity.
Those office going men who loved their wives increased. That‘s how
started the Dabbawallas service is 1890.Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started the lunch delivery service with about 100 men. Mahadeo recruited youth from the villages neighboring Mumbai, who were involved in agricultural work. The lunch delivery service was attractive because the distance between the residential areas and the business district in Bombay, made it difficult for the workers to go back home for lunch. Initially, some 100 unemployed Ghattis (men from the hills of Maharashtra) were contracted to deliver home food to a small group of office going people. Bacche tried to unionize this force in 1930 but failed. ‗Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust‘ was registered in 1956 as a charitable trust. By 1968, the trust was converted to a commercial entity called ―Mumbai Tiffin Box Carriers Association‖. Nowadays, Indian businessmen are the main customers for the dabbawallas.
Success Mantra:
Success of any institution lies in the fact that it must provide win-win situation for both buyers and seller.
Who is dabbawala Dabbawalas belong to a Varakari Sampradaya (tradition) and the entire 4000 strong work force belong to this sampradaya. This tradition unites them and makes them work as organism as compared to an organization. A white cap worn by every dabbawalas symbolizes this tradition. Bono makes this point in some interview where he mentions that teams should work as one organism together. Every member of dabbawala is a passionate devotee of Lord Panduranga (Another avatar of Lord Krishna) they consider their work as a form of worship to their Lord and they do it so religiously they can be often seen doing kirtans of Lord Panduranga while coming to work. They have two basic thoughts. 1) Love the work we are doing 2) Find work which we love
When work turns into what we really love, work turns into a piece of beautiful art.There are also some dabbawallas who belong to the Malva caste, and arrive in Mumbai from places like Rajgurunagar, Akola, Ambegaon, Junnar and Maashi. Mavala‘s are the Maharashrain worriers of king shivaji "We believe in employing people from our own community. So whenever there is a vacancy, elders recommend a relative from their village," says Madhba, a dabbawala.
"Farming earns a pittance, compelling us to move to the city. And the Tiffin service is a business of repute since we are not working under anyone. It's our own business, we are partners, it confers a higher status in society," says Sambhaji, another dabbawala. "We earn more than many padha-likha (educated) graduates," adds Khengle smugly. Education till standard seven is a minimum prerequisite. According to Megde, "This system accommodates those who didn't or couldn't finish t heir studies. It‘s obvious that those who score good marks go for higher education and not t o do t his j ob, but we have people who have studied up to standard twelve who couldn't find respect able jobs." There are only two women dabbawallas.
About Educational Qualification: The Dabbawals service appreciated by Britain prince Charles, Virgin Atlantic airline chairman Sir Richard Branson. Dabbawalas are not high educated individual but there I.Q. (Intelligent Quotient) level is high. They have more than 5000 Dabbawals strength, which are capable to deliver lunch boxes to 2 lacks customers.
Out of 50 Dabbawalas interview, 8% of Dabbawals are not educated, they didn't go to but they know entire coding system which is in English language, also able to sign in the muster roll. 18% of Dabbawalas lies in 1st to 4th standard education 5th to 7th standard schooling education qualification lies by 18% Dabbawalas. Majority of Dabbawalas lies in 8th-10th standard educational qualification, their percentage is 44%. Only 8% Dabbawalas lies in 11th & 12th standard qualification.
Mr. Raghunath Medge- President of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier's Association & chairman of Dakkhan Mavle Sahakari Patpedhi Mumbai, also Contractor of Tiffin Box Suppliers & School Bus Service has completed their Graduation
from Mumbai University. The coding system founder Mr. Raghunath Medge play a big role in filling up an educational gap of Dabbawalas.
Leaving Home for the work: The Dabbawalas leave there homes in the morning between 7.50 am to 8.30am depending upon from which areas they have to pick up tiffin boxes. The Dabbawalas reaches the customers homes according to the t i m i n g fixed between two of them. The day in home then hands over the prepared & packed tiffin box to the Dabbawala. Collecting 30-35 tiffin boxes (from area specified to him) is the responsibility of each Dabbawala, but there were we can see that number of Dabbas picked up is also dependent upon the age of the Dabbawalas. Where young person picks even 40 tiffin‘s each, an elder person might pick pick 30! Also collecting tiffin is not an easy task. Because, Dabbawalas have to pick up tiffin boxes from various distant location in his are a. These locations may be far from each other located on higher floors of the building where sometimes elevator may not be available. These tiffin boxes are then taken to the nearest local station by vehicle. Usually a bicycle or in long wooden creates ca rried on the head! E.g. If a Dabbawala a collecting Tiffin boxes from area of Ghatkopar then he will carry them to Ghatkopar or Vikhroli railway station whichever is nearer from his area of collecting Tiffin‘s
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE: The trust is a co-operative body having three levels of management 1) The governing Council, it‘s President, Secretary – Top level 2) Mukabams (Team leaders or supervision) – Middle level 3) Dabbawalas – Lower level. The Governing Council (also called as Panch Committee) holds meetings on the15th day of every month. Mukadams and Dabbawala are entitled to attend the meetings. At these meetings, Dabbawalas discussed their problems and business policies. The trust collected Rs. 15 p.m. for each member to maintain a welfare fund. The trust provides various services to its members, including loan facilities for emergencies, educations expenses for children, health care etc. from this welfare fund. The Dabbawalas are organized in supervise to sorting Dabbas (Tiffin box), to keep records of payment, to settle disputes, to search new customers and train new Dabbawalas. Each group is financially independent but works together in the delivery process. Each group serves its own customers without hampering the interests of other. Now the Dabbawalas are charging customers Rs. 250 to Rs. 300 p.m. for their services. Total monthly collection is shared equally among the members of the group. Each Dabbawala receives Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 after meeting all expenses like railway monthly ticket, rent for handcarts, crates etc. Newcomers who want to become Dabbawala are initially hired on a salary, after evaluating their performance they are offered membership (shareholders) of the trust and assigned to one of the groups. Each Dabbawala is guaranteed to receive a monthly income and employment for life. As there is no retirement age, he may work as long as he is physically fit. To become profit sharing member of the trust, new Dabbawalas needs to pay a certain amount to the trust. This was Rs. 30,000 in2003.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITY : PRESEDENT: Taking monthly meeting Checking accounts of the association Solving the problems among the members
GENERAL SECRETARY: Drafting the various types of letters Collecting the trust fees
MUKADAM: Supervising the functioning of the members in his group.
MEMBERS: To deliver Tiffin Boxes to the customers & carry Tiffin Boxes back to their home respectively.
Some Important Personalities in NMTBSA: Founder of NMTBSA Mr. Dhondiba Medge: Mr. Dhondiba Medge (1923-1980) - the father of Mr. Raghunath Medge (president of NMTBSA), framed Human Resource Policy of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers ‗Association. Mr. Dhondiba Medge was educated only to 4th standard. He framed rules ®ulations of the Dabbawalas. He was very stair & disciplined kind of person. Who was believes on "Time Is Money. Raghunath Megde, president
Medge was an independent businessman in his own right, running a profitable operation known as Tiffin Box Suppliers and school bus service. All dabbawallas were allowed to pursue a business outside the delivery system as long as it did not interfere with their delivery activities. ―But this is an exhausting and demanding job and it is only after one become a mukadam that one has some free time‖ said Medge. He wanted t o be a chartered accountant but couldn't complete the course because of family problems. Medge now in his late 40‘s, had worked his way through the trust organizational structure and was currently serving his second three year term as president. He also served as secretary of the dakkhan maval sahakari pethpedhi credit union. Medge‘s father, himself a dabbawala for the four decades, also had served as a previous president of trust. Of his three children, his daughter is a graduate e working at ICICI, one son is a Dabbawala and the younger son is still studying. Dr Pawan A. - The Great Indian Management of Dabbawala: Dr. Pawan (M.Com., Bed., LLB., ACS., PhD.), is Mumbai Dabbawala authorized English speaker / presenter.
He has made more than 200 presentations across various corporate in Indian and abroad. Also presentations were made to various Universities, NGOs, YPO & YEO member organizations (Young President Organization & Young Entrepreneur Organization). In the year 2001, while he was pursuing his Doctorate for the topic "A
Study & Logistics & Supply Chain Management of Dabbawala in Mumbai", he had approached the Dabbawala's (Mr. Raghunath and Mr. Gangaram).
Pawan has been involved in the world of dabbawalas ever since and works on an honorary basis to make presentations. He has been authorized by Dabbawalas to present their work in front of the audiences in English.Outside India Pawan has been invited to unleash the magic of Dabbawala to organizations such as: YPO members in Kenya, YPO members in Nigeria, British Telecommunication and global services in London and First Source Solutions ltd. In London. Pawan is knowledgeable, engaging and Passionate about the subject 'Dabbawalas'. The dabbawala who brought change: ―MANISH TRIPATHI” The dabbawalas usually work in groups of 40; each group is independent and functions as a cooperative, so each member is invested in the success of the business.
Manish Tripathi is fighting to bring positive change to Mumbai‘s dabbawallas. – CHUA KOK HWA / the Star ―Everyone is a shareholder,‖ points out Manish Tripathi, the 35-year-old chairman and patron of the Dabbawala Foundation, Mumbai, at an interview in Selangor recently (he was in Malaysia to give a talk at Pos Malaysia‘s ―Inspiring Innovators‖ series of lectures). He also heads the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust.
Manish started as a dabbawala six years ago. He was working in a small firm at the time, without any particular aim in life. With his group of dabbawalas, he worked along the city‘s Marine railway line, gathering at Churchgate station for the noon deliveries. Wearing the dabbawala‘s traditional Gandhi topi, he and his group members would sort and organize the tiffin boxes that arrived from the suburbs by train. Dividing up the boxes between them, each would sling 40-odd boxes onto his bicycle handlebars, load them onto push carts or balance them on the head on long trays. Then it was on to the designated office complexes in the city. Today, Manish no longer delivers tiffins. He is part of something much bigger: He is taking the dabbawalas to the forefront of the business world. ―When I first started being a dabbawala, I didn‘t know what this thing (motivational speaking) was. At the time, I just wanted to contribute in a small way to the dabbawalas. ―Then, after Prince Charles visited us in 2003, he brought the attention of the world to what we do. We call it the Prince Charles factor,‖ he says with a smile. Though he is educated, Manish was not computer savvy but decided to familiarize himself with computers and the World Wide Web: ―I surfed the Internet and realized there was a lot of information out there. I thought to myself, why not have a website where people can find all the information about dabbawalas? ―At that point, I did not know what effect it would have,‖ he says.
The Prince Charles factor: The royal visit in 2003 helped to bring the dabbawalas to the world‘s attention. Manish launched the mydabbawala.com/index2.htm portal in 2003 and in 2006 started a text messaging system that enabled the tiffin men to take orders more efficiently. At the website, Manish put up the history of his colleagues, what they‘re about, how they work and their rates. On the day that the site was launched, it was visited by 75,000 people! ―Since then, we have had billions of visitors and the number is still growing,‖ says Manish, adding that, ―I started it so people can get connected‖. ―Very soon after that, we started getting invitations from various organizations to speak about our experiences. And these organizations were willing to contribute financially to the dabbawalas. It wasn‘t until six months later that I realized that what was happening was something big!‖ To date, Manish has spoken at Stanford University in the United States, Rotman University in Canada and to various Fortune 500 companies, often multiple times at each institution. Virgin Airline owner and entrepreneur Richard Branson is a great fan; he donned the Gandhi topi and the dhoti worn by the dabbawalas during the launch of Virgin Airline‘s inaugural flight from London to Mumbai in 2005. ―The whole experience has forced me to amend myself, to better myself,‖ says Manish. ―I was just an ordinary man and I did not have much courage. But when people started to invite me to speak about our experience, and I saw that people have so much respect for what we do, I developed myself into a good speaker. ―There are a lot of institutes that conduct lectures on how to become a speaker and charge a lot of money for it. But what I know I learned only from my fellow dabbawalas: commitment matters, qualifications don‘t.
Changes: In September, the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust set up a computer centre to teach English and computer skills. To entice the men to come in, the centre has been designed to resemble the place dabbawalas are most familiar with, a train carriage. – yahindnews.com ―When I started speaking more, I became bolder, more honest and built my own character. I definitely had the commitment to be the best that I can be. And when I see people respecting me and what I do, I started to have respect for myself, and that helped to shape who I am today. ―Today, all across the world, people are inviting me to speak. They are keen to talk to me,‖ says Manish proudly.
Challenging changes: Manish said: ―But I don‘t consider myself successful,‖ he says in apparent contradiction before going on to explain: ―Whatever name and fame that we have acquired because of our consistent hard work, the visit of celebrities like Prince Charles and Richard Branson, that success has not been converted to benefit our members.―Our dabbawalas are doing a great job and they deserve something better, but their reward is not commensurate with their efforts.‖ There was a lot of conflict between Manish and the members of his group over the changes he tried to bring about. In fact, there is still a lot of resistance to what he‘s doing, he says. ―We give out push carts to our members and try to bring in change by starting with our speaking engagement and website, but there are still lots of problems like social security and elevating our members‘ standard of living.
―The bad part is that they are not aware. They don‘t want it. If someone is satisfied with whatever he has got, then that is the bad part. I want to make them realize they are meant for something better,‖ insists Manish. But if ―their reward is not commensurate with their efforts‖, if money doesn‘t drive the dabbawallas‘ excellence, what does? The fact that the dabbawalas overwhelmingly belong to one sect, the Varkari, from the farming community of Pune, is one driving factor, it seems. ―We‘re all from the same community, everyone is a Marathi. That bond ties us together stronger than anything else. ―Another thing is that the dabbawalas are not educated and mostly illiterate. We have no other career opportunities; this is the only thing we can do. In a way, we work so hard because we have no other choice,‖ explains Manish. But he wants to open his colleagues‘ eyes to possibilities. ―Now they are content with what they have, which is why they‘re content to do this every day. ―Don‘t get me wrong, I have no wish to change how things work. As far as operations are concerned, I think they are optimized for the environment that is there. In that regard, I do not expect, and I do not wish, to bring in any change. I am not looking for that. ―I am only looking for the social changes that can benefit the members, the betterment of their lives.
―Let me tell you that money is certainly not the issue. They earn enough to sustain their lives. Although they‘re not earning a lot, they‘re satisfied. If somebody came and tried to give them more money, they would say no,‖ he says – they have their pride! What Manish is trying to do now is to make life a little easier for the dabbawalas
with the foundation, which functions as a kind of social security fund for the men and their families. As mentioned before, each group of dabbawalas is independent from each other. If a member of one group has a bicycle or push cart break down or stolen, a replacement will be bought only when all the members of that group can contribute money to do so. Most of the time that either doesn‘t happen or takes a long time, which means that group is handicapped. With the funds Manish gets from speaking engagements and through the foundation, he is able to step in and provide what is needed by the dabbawalas to do their job. Manish relishes being able to do this, and he always adds a little pomp and ceremony every time he presents the bicycles and carts: ―I will invite a few elders to witness the event, give them flowers, gifts and sweets and make it special. They deserve this, as nobody has done this for them before,‖ he says. But no good deed goes unpunished; they say ... Manish relates the incident of the dabbawala who got a job with General Electric. ―I was delivering a lecture at GE and I spoke to the chairman of the organization and told him there was a member who was interested in working for them. He went for the interview, got the job and started working for them. Imagine, a dabbawala working for an MNC (multinational company)!―That sounds very good, but when news got out about this, thousands of our members came to me and started fighting with me. They said to me, ‗What are you doing? If you give other jobs to everybody, then who will do the (dabbawala‘s) job?‘ ―I told them this is not the case. I will only help the people who ask me to help; if they want to better themselves, and then I will do all I can to help,‖ says Manish. ―You have to understand that when an organization has been running for the past 120 years in a certain way, and if you want to bring in change to it, it is very difficult. Some of the things I have done have benefited the members already but others will take more time.‖
Competitive collaboration: MTBSA is a remarkably flat organization with just three tiers: the governing council (president, vice president, general secretary, treasurer and nine directors), the mukadams and the dabbawalas. Its first office was at Grant Road. Today it has offices near most railway stations. Here nobody is an employer and none are employees. Each dabbawala considers himself a shareholder and entrepreneur. Surprisingly MTBSA is a fairly recent entity: the service is believed to have started in the 1880s but officially registered itself only in 1968. Growth in membership is organic and dependent on market conditions. This decentralized organization assumed its current form in 1970, the most recent date of restructuring. Dabbawalas are divided into subgroups of fifteen to 25, each supervised by four mukadams. Experienced old-timers, the mukadams are familiar with the colors and codlings used in the complex logistics process. Their key responsibility is sorting tiffin boxes but they play a critical role in resolving disputes; maintaining records of receipts and payments; acquiring new customers; and training junior dabbawalas on handling new customers on their first day. Each group is financially independent but coordinates with others for deliveries: the service could not exist otherwise. The process is competitive at the customers' end and united at the delivery end. Each group is also responsible for day-to-day functioning. And, more important, there is no organizational structure, managerial layers or explicit control mechanisms. The rationale behind the business model is to push internal competitiveness, which means that the four Vile Parle groups vie with each other to acquire new customers.
Top 10 reasons of using dabbawallas service:
1. Homemade food is best for health and because health is wealth. Outside junk foods may take your life and makes you sick. Homemade food keeps your doctors bill down and there are fewer absences from office due to poor health. In fact bad food is the reason #1 of all the diseases. 2. Homemade food is cheaper. When you use Dabbawallas services to deliver your home cooked food to your office you are actually saving your hard earned pennies. The delivery charge of Rs 250 – 300 per month is very nominal and reasonable. It‘s simple moths. 3. Do you not love your mother or wife and like to eat food made by her? 4. Even if there is no one at home to cook food for you, Dabbawallas can deliver you good quality home like lunch through many restaurants. We have quality restaurants all over Mumbai where cheap and best quality food is prepared which is delivered at your office or home through Dabbawala Channel 5. Safety – The Local train of Mumbai are always much crowed and it is very tough to take even small luggage during peak times. There are instances where the person‘s hand got hurt or broken and ones belongings destroyed while traveling during peak time. People leave from their home at about 8 – 9 PM which is peak time and it‘s not possible to carry Tiffin during this time and Even the food is not ready by this time. By using our services you are getting hot food safely deliver in your office 6. Dabbawallas give reliable services and their performance and accuracy match six sigma standards. You must be sure that your home cooked food reaches in time 7. We, the Dabbawallas never go on strike. 8. By taking our services you are proving direct employment to 5000+ Dabbawallas and many of their dependent families. You are actually helping us
9. Dabbawallas are an icon in their own sense and famous world over for their efficiency and by taking our services you are being part of India‘s image building 10. Dabbawallas are from the remote villages of Maharashtra and mostly uneducated. They regularly organize bhajan and kirtans and spread the essence of Marathi culture, good will and oneness of India. Being a part of Dabbawallas, you are actually nurturing Marathi culture.
A back seat for technology: According to Tripathi there are two reasons why the dabbawalas don't use technology in their supply chain. First, the literacy rates among workers: "The guys are not educated enough - they can't handle the complexity." The second reason is purely financial: "Number two why we do not use technology, maybe the cost... will increase," he added. It's often been suggested that the dabbawalas use RFID tags to keep track of the various tiffin boxes - which can pass through the hands of six dabbawalas before being delivered. However, adding the track-and-trace tags is just too expensive for such a financially lean organization, where each customer typically pays 250 to 300 rupees a month – between £3.50 and £4.20 - for their service. While the dabbawalas may tout their organization as a "company that doesn't use any IT at all", even a system as ancient as theirs doesn't get by without any IT whatsoever. The dabbawalas now have their own website, email address and take bookings by SMS too. Dabbawalas deliver to offices anywhere in reach of Mumbai's railway system.
"In 120 years [that the dabbawala business has operated] we have never gone on strike," he added. "The reason sounds very simple - each of us is a shareholder. Employees go on strike, shareholders do not." The dabbawalas also have a shared history, with members initially drawn from the same farming communities of Maharashtra. Today, the dabbawalas remain a close-knit bunch - when one dabbawala wants to leave, he must find his own replacement - with a common cultural background that encompasses religion, language, and food preferences.
Building a clientele: The range of customers includes student s (both college and school), entrepreneurs of small businesses, Managers, especially bank staff, and mill workers. They generally end t o be middle -class citizens who, f or reasons of economy, hygiene, cast e and dietary restrictions or simply because t hey prefer wholesome food from their kitchen, rely on t he Dabbawala to deliver a home cooked mid-day meal. New customers are generally acquired through referrals. Some are solicited by dabbawalas on railway plat forms. Addresses are passed on t o t he dabbawala operating in t he specific area, who t hen visit s t he customer to finalize arrangement s. Today customers can also log onto a website www.mydabbawala. com t o access the
service and, breaking news, as of 20t h June 2006, customers can now order dabbawalas services by t ext message on t heir mobile phones. Service charges vary from Rs 150 / £2 t o Rs 300 / £4 per t if in box per month, depending on location and collect ion time. Money is collected in t he first week of every month and remitted to the mukadam on t he first Sunday. He t hen divides t he money equally among members of that group. It is assumed that one Dabbawala a can handle not more than 30-35 customers given that each Tiffin box weighs around 2 kgs. And t his is t he benchmark t hat every group tries t o achieve. Typically, a twenty member group has 675 customers and earns Rs 100, 000 / £1, 200 per month which is divided equally even if one dabbawala has 40 customers while another has 30. Groups compete with each to her, but members with in a group do not. It‘s common sense, point s out one dabbawala. One dabbawala could collect 40 Tiffin boxes in the same time that it takes another to collect 30. From his earnings of between Rs 5, 000 / £60 t o Rs 6, 000 / £70, every dabbawala contributes Rs15 per month t o t he association. The amount is used f or community improvement, loans and marriage hall s at Concessionary rates. All problems are usually resolved by association officials whose ruling is binding. Meetings are held in t he office on t he 15t h of every month. During these meetings, particular emphasis is paid to customer service. If a tiffin box is lost or stolen, an investigation is promptly instituted. Customers are allowed to deduct costs from any dabbawala found guilty of such a charge. If a customer complains of poor service, t he association can shift the customer's account to another dabbawala. No dabbawala is allowed t o undercut another. Before looking into internal disputes, t he association charges a token Rs 100 t o ensure t hat only genuinely aggrieved members interested in a solution come t o it with their problems, and t he officials' time is not wasted on petty bickering.
How they operate and work as team:
This service is available in every working day and whenever the local trains run in Mumbai & Suburban because it is their primary mode of transportation. The Dabbawalas deliver home-cooked meals to individuals (irrespective of their caste, creed or religion) at their working places (offices/factories) and return empty boxes to customer‘s houses or caterers. Every customer who avails himself the service is given a aluminum container (called Dabba-contains 2 or 3 containers, often carrying rice, chapattis, curry and salad) with appropriate code painted on the lid. The Dabbas are changed hands at least four or five times before they reach their destinations during the delivery process. The process runs as follows: A Dabbawala picks up the Tiffin box with cooked food from a house or caterer early morning (generally between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.), then transports it bicycle or handcart to the nearest railway station. Then he hands it over to a Mukadam who sorts it and arranges them in crates or trays, according to the destination. Another Dabbawala then transports it in the suburban train vendor compartment to the railway station nearest to its destination where another picks it up and delivers it to the ultimate recipient by 12:30 p.m. After lunch, the Dabbas are picked up and return to the customer‘s house or caterer in a reverse operation. The food and the Dabba both belong to the customer. Even housewives occasionally send messages to their husbands in these Dabbas. This delivery system has been compared to a relay race. The Dabbawalas have developed their unique coding system. The codes help each Dabbawala to identify and fulfill his responsibility. These codes are understood by the Dabbawalas and no one else. The code is painted on the lid of the Dabba,
Their coding system is very interesting. They use colors and code markings to ensure faultless delivery. They use both alphabets and numbers to identify Dabbawala, station, building and floor. For example, if the code on a Dabba is ―P-BO-10 15/A/11‖, then P identifies the name of the Dabbawala ,BO indicates Borivali (area) where the Dabba has to be collected from,10 represents the area, Nariman point, where the Dabba has to be delivered and15/A/11 stands for 15th building, 11th floor. Dabbawala‘s ability to successfully run the service in a crowded city like Mumbai could be attributed to its geography and local train service. The trains run every day in a year
and there is very rarely any interruption in the service. At monsoon, due to heavy rain, when the rail tracks would get flooded then the service is disturbed. Raghunath Medge, President of the trust said, ―Mumbai‘s geography makes it unique, it is a longish city where residences are in the north and offices in the south, so it makes our work simple .According to their version, they use the cheap public transport system which is advantageous to them. Several groups are involved in this service, but their teamwork is unique and delivery almost flawless due to their effective co-ordination. Even there is no mixing of vegetarian and non vegetarian dabbas on the same bicycle. Raghunath Medge claimed ―We generally make one mistake in
two months. We can‘t afford to
make mistakes to often or else we will be out of business.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE ASSOCIATION: The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is registered institution. Though it is so, it does not function as a commercial institution e.g. courier company. This organization is formed by the members. To avoid any disputes & give each member pride, the employee-employer relationship is avoided. Each member is a shareholder in the association. He gets his monthly salary from each of his customers directly. All the members in a group gather on a particular date of each month mostly at a nearest local office of the organization or the trust (NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS' CHARITABLE TRUST). All the members collect their salary together, cut down for overheads & travel expenses. Also each member contributes amount of rupees 10 /- towards for the charity purposes. E.g. there is the group of 15 Dabbawalas they carry 30 dabbas each they get Rs. 150/- customer so calculation goes like this: 15×150×30 = 67, 5000/So. Gross earning of this group is Rs. 67500/-
Now from this amount, a collective amount of Rs. 4000/- approximately is deducted comprising expenses for railways pass, expenses for parking the carts & cycles & overheads the remaining amount is divided equally into all members of the group. So, suppose now after deductions, group has left with 63500/-; it will be divided equally among all the members, thus each member getting Rs. 4230/- each. This salary may not be sufficient compared to the cost of living in Mumbai also may of have their families back in villages to send money to. To cope up, with this problem, few of the Dabbawala have started doing some side business for extra income. Some of them after returning home in evening drive auto-rickshaws or early in morning before going on work distribute newspaper or milk.
The association once a month calls a meeting of all the members. In this meeting it tries to solve the internal problems of the members. Such problem & solutions solved till now have laid a kind of unwritten rules & Regulations for the members of the organization to follow in certain cases.
1) In the case of loss of Tiffin Box of the Dabbawala, if he is found guilty, then the customer is refunded the appropriate amount for the loss. 2) Each member is supposed to operate in his allocated area only & not interfere with any of his fellow colleagues, work area. In fact normally no Dabbawala does this too! 3) In case if the customer is not pleased with Dabbawala provided to him for service, both of them cannot co-ordinate well with each other then the organization can shift that Dabbawala to some other area & replace other Dabbawala in his area.
Human Resource practices of the association: FLAT ORGANIZATION:
The president, Vice president, General Secretary, Treasurer & 9 no. of Directors formed 13 members of board under which Mukadam & other Dabbawalas work. So due to such Flat kind of organization structure decisions are taken on the spot. Event the president & other higher categories members also work. NO HIRE & FIRE RULE:
Everyone is shareholder of the association. Whatever profits they can equallydistributed within itself. It is democratic type of organization HR Practices. COMMUNITY BASED RECRITMENT:
Those who have capacity to job they can apply for the Dabbawala post. There is no any kind of basis happens related to recruitment process.
SHARING COMMON BELIEFS, VALUES & ETHICS:
All the Dabbawalas are from poor back ground, the aim of the o r g a n i z a t i o n i s mutual benefit to all members so they follow certain values, belief & ethics to run business effectively. FOLLOWING OF STRICT DRESS CODES:
All Dabbawalas must wear white cap which is called as Gandhi cap on duty. Also wear white sadara & pyjama (shirts & pants). All Dabbawals must carry their Identity card on duty. All these rules are binding on all cadres of the Dabbawala. LOYALTY & TRUST IS THEIR MONOPOLY:
All Dabbawalas are loyal & hard working in nature. They follow their norms & promise which they made their customers. TRAINING PROVIDED TO NEW EMPLOYEES:
After recruitment they provide complete process training to new joiner under the observation of Mukadam or any senior member. When they feel that newemployees are capable to work, that time training will completed. OWNER + EMPLOYEE IS THE DESIGNATION OF ALL:
Everyone is the shareholder of the Association. All disciplinary rules & other ethics follow by all members. So there is no any employee & employer relationshi p between each other. All are owners of the business. QUARTERLY MEETING TO DISCUSS ISSUES:
Every quarter all Dabbawalas meet & discuss issues related to service, salary &future goal. They discuss balance sheet & distribute profits among them. If anycritical issue arises that time they cal immediate meeting. Also conduct dailymeeting to handle day to day problem. All Dabbwalas can participate in meeting &can contribute his suggestion.
MANPOWER PLANING: Day
to
day
their
number
of
customer
are
increasing
simultaneously they increase their manpower too. They don't have any criteria about recruitment of Dabbawala. They have some poets which new recruit Dabbawala should follow these rules are as follows. First few month he has to work under the supervision of senior person or
mukadam. He must wear which sadara (shirt), while pant (Gandhi topi) & white cap at the time of working. He should be physically fit to carry Tiffin boxes He should maintain good relation which customer He should be punctual He should be able to work with team He should has to give prior information to the association before going on leave
DISCIPLINE AND SOME BASIC RULES:
Wearing White cap during working hours: ‗Our computer is our head and our Gandhi cap is the cover to protect it from the sun or rain‘ no dabbawallas is allowed to remove his Gandhi cap out of his head during working hours. It is believed that Gandhi topi is the symbol of pride.
Reporting to duty on time: A dabbawallas has to start collecting dabbas at 10:00 in morning and should complete the work of collection till 11:30. After that he should board the train and start the distribution work and in all this process he should not be late.
Behave properly & respect the customers: Like any other today‘s organization this association also follows the rule of respecting their customers and behaving in an ethical manner with them. It is believed that customer is equal to ‗God‘.
Carry identity cards:
It is compulsory for every dabbawalla to carry his identity card with them while they are on duty.
No Alcohol Drinking during business hours: Dabbawalas are not allowed to drink alcohol or have any kind of toxic substances during working hours. This is because if someone do so there will be a threat of mistakes in work.
SAFETY AND WELFARE : There is no protection for the dabbawalas from the rain and scorching sun. Even the dabbas are not under any cover or protection except for what is actually given by the customer. Raincoats do not provide adequate protection when they have to cycle around. Whereas, umbrellas are more of a haste o carry around during their hectic activities. Thus, they are vulnerable to any illness during the season. As for the dabbas, it‘s not much of a worry because the rainwater isn‘t going to get into the food anyway. There is also a minute risk of the bicycles getting stolen or Tiffin‘s getting stolen or lost but it‘s extremely rare. Since there is no insurance for anything, what is lost is a loss incurred by the responsible dabbawala. In case the Tiffin gets stolen or lost, the respective customers of the dabbawalas are to deduct the amount from the dabbawalas salary. Another cases, where the incident of the loss is due to the fault of another member that leads to a dispute, that matter is then settled during the monthly meetings held at dadar where the committee decides who will bear the compensation and who is to be blamed. Of course, the loss of Tiffin is a one in 8 million cases that leads to the achievement of six sigma distinction. As for the bicycles, the dabbawalas usually have an understanding with the watchmen or security people who take care of these cycles as the dabbawalas are away delivering. In case they do get stolen, nobody‘s blamed and the dabbawala has to bear the loss completely During morning times, the carriage would take around 40-50 Tiffin‘s. Now, each Tiffin is filled with food and the whole carriage weighs on average 70-80 kgs. This
is extremely heavy for a head load. But the dabbawalla manage this as their daily routine. So much weight in the scorching heat of the day may lead to fatigue and therefore is unsafe for them but due to the physical fitness levels, it is rare for a dabbawala to fall ill due to fatigue. But there is no welfare policy in this regards. The only welfare activity carried out by the union is the social gathering that the association carries out every year at their village festival.
Challenges: The second generation "The second generation does not want to get into this business as the returns are not much," said one Dabbawala. Some Dabbawalas felt that there was danger of the business eventually dying out as they are unable to attract new recruits from within their families and relatives who had traditionally been their main source of recruitment...
Growth of fast food centers The trust faces the cut-throat competition from the growth of fast food centers like Pizza Hut, Mac Donald‘s etc. While there are thousands of die-hard customers, rapid urbanization, increasing personal transportation and availability of different kinds of fast food have drawn a good chunk of the younger generation away from the home made food.
Change in Life Styles Pattern, More and more two income families, Working women class:
As double income families become the norm in Mumbai and the demand for convenience food rose, the time that might be spent cooking at home become a precious commodity for most as a result, what constituted home cooked are convenience food was likely to change over time as new lunch items were becoming available on grocery shelves (E.g. microwavable food) In Medge‘s view: These changes are superficial and will not affect the core of our business, because at the end of the day, every one prefers home cooked food to all other foods. It is that innate preference that has been the basic of our survival so far. It will continue to be so in future.
Lunch coupons offered by organizations. Localized Tiffin Service.
Woman’s working in NMTBSA: These three stand tall, very tall, in a harsh male preserve. They are the only three women among the 5,000 male dabbawalas in Mumbai. Meet Dagdubai, Shantabai Shankar Sawant and Parobai Vitthal Madhale, who have rewritten the rules in the business. Dressed in a traditional nauvari sari, these women carry 70 kg of load on their shoulders, putting their male counterparts to shame. Dagdubai
Age: 40 Experience: 12 years Dress code: Nauvari sari Monthly salary: Rs 3,500 Residence: Borivli Why this profession: Her husband Ganpat Arav is a dabbawala and she wanted to
contribute to the family income Problems: Occasional body ache, fatigue Holidays: Sundays and bank holidays She says: Not every woman can do this job. You need tremendous strength to carry the dabbas on your head. There is no compromise in the amount of load we carry just because we are women.
Dagdubais schedule
8 am: Starts collecting dabbas from houses in Kandivli and Charkop 10 am: Takes a train for Churchgate 11.30 am: Reaches the Western Railway headquarters outside Churchgate station where the dabbas are sorted. 12.30 pm: Distributes the dabbas to offices around Nariman Point 1.30 pm: Starts collecting the dabbas from the offices 2.45 pm: Takes a train back to Kandivli between 4 pm and 6 pm: Sorts the dabbas at Kandivli station and then delivers them to respective households.
Shantabai Shankar Sawant
Age: 42 Experience: 14 years Dress code: Nauvari sari Monthly salary: Rs 3500 Rs 4000 (depending on the number of dabbas)
Why this profession: Her husband Vitthal Sawant is a dabbawala and she wanted to add to the family income Residence: Ghatkopar Holidays: Sundays and bank holidays Problems: Acute shoulder pain, fatigue She says: Unlike men who can do the job even when they are 70, we can‘t carry on for so long. I will retire in another three years. My physical capacity to carry heavy loads has also reduced over the years and I get tired these days. Sawants schedule
8 am: Starts collecting dabbas from houses in Ghatkopar 10 am: Takes a train for CST 11.30 am: Reaches CST where the dabbas are sorted 12.30 pm: Distributes the dabbas to offices in and around the Stock Exchange and Fort 1.30 pm: Starts collecting dabbas from offices 2.45 pm: Takes a train back to Ghatkopar Between 4 pm and 6 pm: Sorts the dabbas at Ghatkopar station and then delivers them to respective households. Parobai Vitthal Madhale
Age: 35 Experience: 10 years Dress code: Nauvari sari Monthly salary: Rs 3,500 Holidays: Sundays and bank holidays Residence: Ghatkopar Why this profession: Husband has been ill for many years and she is the only earning member in the family Problems: Men make obscene gestures in the crowded luggage compartment
She says: Unlike men, even after reaching home at 6.00 pm, we have to do all the household work. So we basically end up working from 8 am till about 9 pm at night.
Madhales schedule:
8.00 am: Starts collecting dabbas from houses in Ghatkopar 10.00 am: Takes a train for CST 11.30 am: Reaches CST where the dabbas are sorted 12.30 pm: Distributes the dabbas in offices in and around Stock Exchange and Fort 1.30 pm: Starts collecting the dabbas from the offices 2.45 pm: Takes a train back to Ghatkopar Between 4 pm and 6 pm: Sorts dabbas at Ghatkopar station and then delivers them to respective households. Raghunath Medge, president of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Charity Suppliers Trust: It‘s no joke for women to carry 70 kg on their head. We don‘t discriminate against women but they don‘t join this profession, as this is a physically demanding job and therefore, a man‘s job.
Coding system: VP –The first thing on the Tiffin is the code for the originating station from where the dabbawalas picks up the Tiffin in the morning. In this case VP denotes Vile Parle. The area under this station will include Juhu and also J.V.P.D scheme since this is the only station, which is nearest. Even if the dabbawala goes it the most interior parts like juhu, it will not be mentioned in the coding simply because the dabbawalas are just concerned about the respective railway station.
E – This is the code for the dabbawala who is picking up the Tiffin from its origin or home. In this case, the dabbawala with the code of ‗E `, will be a part of the group distinguished by the color code ‗RED‘. In many instances, the code will be the initial of the name of the dabbawala. This is one of the elements that can be changed during the course of time if the dabbawala for that particular customer changes.
3 – This is the code for the destination area. This may not necessarily be restricted to a station only. For, instance, churchgate is allotted number codes from 1-10. Number 11 is allotted to Marine lines, 12 to Charni road and so on. In this example, the number ‗3‘ is allotted to the area between Flora Fountain and cross Maidan area. Other prime location would include Nariman point, stock exchange, ballard pier, RBI etc.
9 – AI – 12:
9 – This is the code number for the dabbawala who delivers the Tiffin to the destination office from Churchgate station. This is the dabbawala who is responsible for delivering to the respective office and picking it up after the lunch hours. He is a part of another group from the one he worked with at the
originating station. Thus, in most cases, each dabbawala will be a part of more than one group for sure one at the origin and one at the destination.
AI –This code denotes the exact location or more likely, the building‘s initial in the area that falls under churchgate station. In this case, it is the Air India building AI being the initial for the building is unique and therefore , creates no confusion whatsoever for the dabbawalas. Office buildings around southern Mumbai are very popular and hence, easy to comprehend when given in codes. Other examples would be M for mittal towers, R for RBI , and MC for Makers Chambers and so on.
12 – Finally , the last code among the three codes that form the right side of the top of the dabba is the floor on the building ( VSNL) or the room number in case of building with large number of rooms on each floor. Such an example would be stock exchange, RBI, and BMC etc.
Workday schedule: Pickup dabba from residence & bring it to Andhari station: 9:30 A.M-10:30 A.M:
This time period is Utilized for collecting Dabbas from Different places around Andheri€ Dabbas are collected from different resources such as homes, hotels, messes etc. by Dabbawalas & brought to Andheri Station.€
Now these collected Dabbas are sorted according to Destination. Wherever there is Dabba-There is Dabbawala. Journey in 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.€ 12 coach Train€ 4,000 Commuters€ 8,000 Disputes€ But no excuses Duty First.
Unloading and 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.
Annadatas having their food:
12:30P.M-1:00P.M (LUNCH TIME) Dabbawalas carry their Food with them€ Areas wise sit together & have their lunch The family that eats together stays together.
Collection of empty dabbas & sorting at destination station:
1:15-2:30 P.M (At all destination stations) € Here on begins the collection process where the Dabbawalas have to pick up the Dabbas from the offices where they had delivered almost an hour ago€ The Return journey by train where the group finally meets up after the day‘s routine of dispatching &collecting from various destination offices.€
The Dabbawalas meet for the segregation as per the destination suburb.
Return journey: € 2:48-3:30P: M Usually since it is more of a pleasant journey compared to the earlier part of the day; the Dabbawalas lighten up the moment with merry making; joking around singing.€ There is no cause of tension or worry as customer has eaten the lunch. Even if the Return journey is delayed little bit there is no problem.
Sorting and delivery of empty dabbas:
3:30-4:40 P.M ( At all Origin Stations.) € This is the stage where the final sorting &dispatch takes place. The group meets up at origin station & they finally sort out the Tiffin‘s as per the origin area & the empty Dabba is delivered at the Respected Residence.€ The actual address of the residence is not mentioned on the Dabba. It is remembered by the Dabbawalas
WAR AGAINST TIME: The very thought of Mumbai brings us jitters about the traffic, congestion and local trains. It is said, A million people together make an empire but 5000 dabbawalas together have made a world of their own.―Simple living and high thinking is indeed the inspiration behind the master mind of these dabbawalas.‖ These men whose attire has been influenced from the Gandhi Era, where technology means brains and unity means team work. With a strong grit, great passion,
complete dedication and commitment they have achieved six sigma certification without an application. ―12 coach trains,4000 commuters,8000 disputes. No Excuse. Only duty.‖ They believe, ―Error is horror, don‘t give up to mirror it will become danger.‖ Nutan Mumbai Tiffin box suppliers association started off in the year 1890 with just two customers during the British rule, they grew from strength to strength and now rule the Mumbai traffic by undertaking 4, 00,000 transactions per day with the total work force of approximately 5000 employees whose average qualification is 8 th grade. In an encounter with Dr. Pawan G.Agarwal, Director of the Mumbai dabbawala education center quotes in hindi,―hum angrez zamane ke jailor toh nahi magar dabbawale zaroor hai.‖ He highlights that they consider costumer as God and work as worship hence there is no strike record till date. A head load of crate to hand cart to bicycle, these dabbawalas are always punctual and deliver food on time regardless of late trains and bad weather. Dr.Pawan sets all doubts to rest by specifying that they are ‗no caterers‘, they help in delivering the Tiffin boxes from their respective homes to work place before lunch time. He takes keen interest in explaining regarding the principles of coding done on the dabba; People study business books and then practice, Dabbawala practiced first and now has become a case study. Dabbawalas are very efficient despite of being paid less cause they believe in sustaining customers and tells us not to run behind money. He adds saying corporate aim at profits and dabbawalas aim at providing service at feasible cost. The dabbawalas are united as they belong to the same society and share the feeling of brotherhood. Dabbawalas have many credits, they have not only impressed the mumbaikars but have also impressed great men like Prince Charles, Richard Branson, Clinton etc. Awards and appreciations, rewards and recognition, dabbawallas have carved a niche for themselves in the Guinness books of world records as well as Ripley‘s . Dabbawalas are a classic Indian example on Team work, Commitment, Discipline, Customer Satisfaction, Honesty and Time Management.
There is always two sides to a coin, ups and downs are part and parcel of theses dabbawalas too, but they carry on with the same spirit to keep Mumbai ticking like the clock ticks, but time does not stop because ‗work is worship‘.
LEAVES: NMTBSA has segregated annual leave on two types 1. Weekly Leave: All Dabbawala gets weekly leave on every Sunday.
2. Festival Leave: All Dabbawallas are devotees of lord Shiv shankaras & vitthalas so NMTBASA only sanctioned leaves for those festivals which are celebrated for their God. Mahashivaratri (Festival of Shiv Shankaras) Aashadhi Ekadashi (Festival of Lord vitthalas) Kartiki Ecakashi (Festival of Lord Vitthalas) Chaitra Pournima (New Year of Marathi People) Diwali (2 days) (Festival of Lights)
THEIR PRINCIPLES:
Shakti aur bhakti
Work is Worship
Manavseva me bhagwan seva milti hai
Union is strength
I trust man only coz I trust in god
Code of conduct : Rs 500- Drinking on duty Rs 100- Smoking on duty Rs 25- Not wearing white cap Rs 25- Not carrying ID card
Rs 1000- Leave without intimation, sacked if repeated in 2-3 instances 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
Dabbawalas profit: The dabbawallas were a homogeneous group in many ways. Its members traditionally male, hailed from same geographical region-known as mavalalocated east of the sahyadri (Western Ghats) near pune, and they spoke the same language (Marathi). They shared similar customs and traditions, such as gathering together for a week every April for a festival in their hometown. They wore the same dress, a loose white dhoti, shirt, cotton pajama and their trade mark white oval cap. All of these combined to form a distinct local identity for a dabbawala. They were easily recognized even in the busiest of location. Seemingly always in a rush the dabbawallas were known for their reliability and work ethic. They ascribed to the traditional Indian belief that ―work is worship‖. Each dabbawala earned a monthly income between Rs.5000 &Rs.6000 out of this income; each dabbawala was responsible to pay: 1) Rs.120 For the monthly railway passes that allowed for unlimited access to Mumbai railways. 2) Rs.60 for the maintenance of the bicycle or the pushcart (which were owned by the group or profit center.); and 3) The compulsory monthly contribution of Rs.15 to the trust.
―It is a good earning for a semi-literate by Indian standards.‖ said Medge. Each new recruit would undergo an apprenticeship for 2 yrs on a fixed remuneration of Rs.2000 per month. Each apprentice was then required to purchase a delivery rout before being admitted as a dabbawala. The price for route was fixed as a ratio of the average monthly earning of the group at 1:7 for instance, most groups monthly earning were approximately Rs. 14000 so the apprentice was expected to deposit Rs. 20000 for a delivery route. This money went to the sheared capital of the trust and would be returned to the dabbawala upon retirement. Once, admitted the dabbawala was guaranteed a monthly income and a job for life.
Dabbawalas Management: Customer relationship management: It identifies key customer target markets and develops and implements programs with key customers. Key customer target markets for the dabbawalas are the end users of the cycle. They include the office goers who get the dabbas from their homes. The time of delivery of the dabbas is around 1p.m. to 1.30 p.m. to the end customers. They should get their lunch around that time and it‘s expected that they have the lunch break of one hour and dabbas can be collected back at around 2.30 p.m. The service levels for this level is maintained constant even if there are minor changes in service levels for the level 1customers as they can adjust accordingly and serve the end customers. Low capital, high efficiency: What make it unique are its low capital intensity and its price performance relationship. The Tiffin box carriers rely almost entirely on local trains, benefiting from an extensive and reliable train network. Costs are low, as are wages, and that keeps the price down. It‘s just 3,000 rupees a month for the service.
Customer Service Management: Customer Service Management provides the single source of customer information, real time information system with current order, production and distribution information. In the case of dabbawalas this information is real time. They plan for their day-to-day collection on the basis of the information they already have. Though in each sector there is a chance of minor variation of 2 to 3 dabbas, their system can accommodate that change in the transported volume.
Demand Management: Demand management balance customer requirements with supply capabilities. Though the distribution system of the dabbawalas is capable of handling the slight variation of the demand, always there are precautions for the additional supply. They arrange for more number of dabbawalas for the handling of such situations from the nearer zones of action. The seasonal variation in the quantity of food carried is also accommodated by the size of the containers.
Order Fulfillment: The first priority of any service is to provide timely and accurate delivery with a high degree of order fulfillment. For the end customers the order fulfillment is 100%. Around5000 dabbawalas deliver 2, 00,000 lunches everyday and take the empty dabba back. They make one mistake in 2 months. This means there is one error on every 16 million transactions.
Manufacturing Flow Management: It includes the customer-based service with flexible distribution systems, also in this case with the right flexibility of the timings. In case of the dabbawalas this issue arises when a client temporarily shift the premises of the collection and delivery. They collect the details of the change in advance and respond for the change as and when needed.
Customers support: While the dabbawalas are known for their sky-high levels of reliability, they demand the same from their customers. To keep the supply chain on track, each client of the dabbawalas has to be able to deliver just as reliably and just as quickly. When a dabbawala calls at a customer's house to pick up the lunchbox, they have just five seconds to give the dabbawala the container or he'll move on without it, leaving one city worker hungry. Customers who fail to produce the lunchbox on time for a week are dropped. This measure is necessary, according to the dabbawalas' Manish Tripathi, because one bad customer would result in "thousands of good customers failing to get their lunch on time". Customers are expected to deliver their lunchboxes - usually the multilayered steel containers known as tiffin boxes - at a set time after 9.30am to make sure that by 12.30pm, the box will be on the desk of its owner.
Between 9.30am and
12.30pm, it's what the dabbawalas call 'war time'. "Our 5,000 dabbawalas wage war on... Streets of Mumbai to make sure the tiffin boxes get to the right customer at the right time… Red light, no entry, zebra crossing - everything is crossed our dabbawallas.
Shrinking customer base and customer loyalty: The number of dabbawallas clients peaked at around 2, 75,000 in 1980‘s. The closure of several textile mills during the 1980‘s explained much of subsequent decline in customer as thousands of mill workers lost their jobs. The number of shrank gradually to less than half by the end of the decade, Forcing the dabbawallas to tap new customer segment, such as delivering to school children‘s or delivering lunch‘s products by caterers.
Targeting new customer was a task that was left to individuals group and the mukadams, as there was no coordinated efforts at the level of trust aimed at new customer acquisition,
According to Medge: We have a great cleat of decentralization in this business and each group is free to pursuit new customer depending upon its ability to mobilize resources and to come with demand of servicing new customers. There is no interference from the trust and no pressure of any kind on any of the dabbawala to get new customer. We do not want to stretch our human resources to a point where our delivery system faces a risk of break down leading to a loss of reputation built assiduously over decades.
The delivery system had built in mechanisms that allowed for accommodating fluctuation in demand (E.g. customer going on annual vacation or school being closed during summer). Client was required to pay for full month if a dabba was to be delivered for more than seven days in a month. Every customer paid on time, usually immediately upon being presented with the monthly invoice, and there was no credit for service not rendered. More than 3000 of current dabbawalla clients had stayed with the service for more than 2 decades.
Findings Related to Customer:
The majority of customers are belonging to the age group of 35 to 50 years because they need home cooked food.
More than 50% customers are from working class category.
93% of customers believe that dabbawala service is reliable and of utmost importance for them.
More than 60% of customers feel that if dabbawala do not provide the services then the alternative services will be costlier than dabbawala.
Majority of customers are unwilling to change to the services of dabbawala.
Majority of customers are expecting extra services from dabbawala in addition to
delivery of tiffins.
63% of customers have advised that dabbawalas should use modern technology for the logistics and supply chain.
4 Reasons the Dabbawala Supply Chain Succeeds
No over-reliance on technology. Sure, the dabbawalas are now using Web technology and SMS for orders, but for the most part this is a fairly low-tech operation. It relies on trains and barefoot men. No computer chips. No social networks. Just guys busting their humps and a reliable train service. The lesson form organizations? Don‘t expect technology to solve your issues — usually the issue has more to do with process, execution and expectations than it does bits and bytes.
Create an integrated performance chain. In other words, the dabbawala system keeps its eye on the sum not the individual parts. When you boil it down to simple terms, a performance chain is really just a system of moving pieces. Focus too much on those individual pieces and you get hung up in the details and, as a result, are less efficient. Concentrate on the entire system and flow of products and information and you have a much better chance of success.
Acute visibility. The beauty of the dabbawala-based system is that all of the dabbawalas understand exactly what is happening and when — to the minute. If certain deadlines and hand-offs are missed, people don‘t eat. It‘s as simple as that. Make sure everyone within your chain understands what he or she needs to do, where they need to be and what needs to happen for the chain to be successful.
Keep it simple. Real simple. One of the key lessons any organization can learn from the dabbawalas is the simplicity with which this system works. The dabbawalas are intimately aware of what their customers value (food delivered on time, every day). And, just as importantly, they don‘t try to do anything other than that. They don‘t overcomplicate things. They don‘t add extraneous value. They simply understand what their customers want, and they focus 100 percent of their time and energy on meeting that need.
SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS Coordination, team spirit & time management Low operation cost No fuel consumption 100% customer satisfaction 99.9999% performance No cheating On time service Personal touch with customer(Networking) Backup of 2 members after 20 members
WEAKNESS High dependability on local trains Less educated
Nearly 10 km of footwork Increase fatigue more than 50kg of cart. Very less salary No technology no vehicles No job security No government support Limited in Mumbai only.
OPPORTUNITIES
Wide range publicity Operational cost is low Catering
THREATS Indirect competition is being faced from caterers. Indirect threats from fast foods and hotels. Change in timings. Company transport Ticket restaurant
5 Dimensions of service quality Dimension 1 - tangibles; The tangible Service Quality Dimension refers to the appearance of the physical
surroundings
and
facilities,
equipment,
personnel and
the
way of
communication. The tangible attributes in dabbawallas service are their crates in which they carry their dabbas with unique codes on it, bicycle used to travel short distance, and their uniform which is the most unique thing they have, it consist of a white kurta or
a shirt, a loose dhoti or a payjama and a white oval cap. All these attributes leave a unique positive and never forgetting first hand impression not only on customers but also on the one who see them. Dimension 2 - reliability; The service reliability of dabbawallas was rooted in the following factors: 1) Dabbawallas considered themselves an entrepreneur, not employees that explained why, for instance, they had never gone on strike. They worked six days a week, taking a break for 5 days in April every year to attend an annual village festival en masse. 2) They were not governed by a hierarchy that defined working relationship in terms of a boss and a subordinate. Every one worked as part of a team with a common goal that had to be achieved every working day: No customer should go without food. 3) They lived and worked in clans all apprentices were recruited through referrals from relatives and friends migrated to Mumbai from the same geographical region. It insured that there was no dilution for service culture or erosion of the basics. 4) Each dabbawala was solely responsible for the delivery of his 30 to 35 clients. While other may fill in occasionally, he generally maintained total control over his route. Dimension 3 - responsiveness; The responsiveness Service Quality Dimension refers to the willingness of the company to help its customers in providing them with a good, quality and fast service. This is also a very important dimension, because every customer feels more valued if they get the best possible quality in the service. The principles of NMTBSA say that ―Work Is Worship.‖ and ―Manavseva Me Bhagwan Seva Milti Hai.‖ and these principles help them to provide customers with good, quality and fast service. As every
delivery is made within the time needed by the customer which makes him feel valued and special. Dimension 4 - assurance; The assurance Service Quality Dimension refers to the company's employees. Are the employees skilled workers which are able to gain the trust and confidence of the customers? Dabbawallas service is in existence since from last 120 years. Every employee of dabbawallas association is a ―Bhakt of Lord Vitthal‖ who teaches to be polite and kind with every living being on earth and this feature of dabbawallas of being polite creates a high level of comfort between customers and employees. Dimension 5 - empathy; The empathy Service Quality Dimension refers to how the company cares and gives individualized attention to their customers, to make the customers feeling extra valued and special. NMTBSA is an association which strives hard to protect their reputation which has been built within 120 years of quality service, for which it is important to give importance to the customer and care about them. They never let any grievances to arise in mind of customers by providing good and quality service and treat every customer as god. If the customers feel they get individualized and quality attention there is a very big chance that they will return to the company and do business there again.
The logistics of how the dabba is delivered: A collecting dabbawala, usually on bicycle, collects dabbas from homes or from the dabba makers. The dabbas have some sort of distinguishing mark on them, such as a color or symbol. The dabbawala then takes them to a designated sorting place, where he and other collecting dabbawalas sort (and sometimes bundle) the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of trains, with markings to identify the destination of the box (usually there is a designated car for the
boxes). The markings include the rail station to unload the boxes and the building address where the box has to be delivered. At each station, boxes are handed over to a local dabbawala, who delivers them. The empty boxes, after lunch, are again collected and sent back to the respective houses.
SUPPLY CHAIN SUCCESS: MUMBAI DABBAWALA The success of the Mumbai Dabbawalas has been recognized worldwide. The success can be attributed to the
Well-disciplined organizational structure and a well-planned operational process. Their strategy can be summarized as follows: 1. Distributed the entire city into several areas or zones. 2. Assigned one Dabbawala for a specific area consisting of about 30 houses. 3. Different set of dabbawalas to perform specific task to that set. 4. Used cycle, push carts and the train ―Mumbai local‖ as their means of transport.
Strategic fit of supply chain achieved by Mumbai Dabbwalas: 1. UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER AND SUPPLYCHAIN UNCERTAINTY: Quantity of product needed in each lot: 1 Dabba per customer. Response time: 12:30 pm i.e. lunch time in office. Variety of products needed: Homemade food specific to each customer. Service level required: On time delivery of correct Dabbas. Price of the product: Price paid for transportation from source to destination, which is the cheapest as they only pay for using the railway (Mumbai local). Desired rate of innovation: Not much innovation required as such.
2. UNDERSTANDING THE SUPPLY CHAINCAPABILITIES:
The Mumbai dabbawalas deal with only homemade cooked food which they require to supply to their customers based at different locations in the city of Mumbai. So it is clear that they do not cater to variety of services. As a result, their supply chain can be thought of
an efficient supply chain, where cost incurred to cater the service is very less considering the fact that receive a huge turnover annually.
3. ACHIEVING STRATEGIC FIT:
The first step in achieving strategic fit is to assign roles to different stages of the supply chain that ensure the appropriate level of responsiveness. It is important to understand that the desired level of responsiveness required across the supply chain may be attained by assigning different levels of responsiveness and efficiency to each stage of the supply chain. The Mumbai dabbawalas have a very well organized as well as disciplined and simple organizational structure, where each member knows his assigned role. The organization is headed
By an executive committee, which looks after the entire business. The executive committee is subordinated by the Mukaddam (supervisors). Several dabbawalas work under one Mukaddam. Everyone who works within this system is treated as an equal. Regardless of a dabbawala's function, everyone gets paid about two to four thousand rupees per month (around25-50 British pounds or 40-80 US dollars).
More than 175,000or 200,000 lunches get moved every day by an estimated 4,500to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. According to a recent survey, there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries. The Mumbai dabbawalas run a very successful business since its inception about a century ago. Their supply chain has achieved success as they could properly follow the three necessary steps that guarantee success.
Low cost delivery: Client typically paid between Rs. 200 to Rs. 350 month for delivery depending upon the route and the geographical distance traveled by the dabbawala. According to Medge:
If a courier company were to be involved in this business, it would be charging at least Rs. 20 per transaction for a box weighing 1.5 kg, but we charge far less between Rs.4 and Rs.5 per transaction – even while ensuring that every dabbawala makes enough money for a living.
The prices charged to the customer were fixed at the discretion of the group. There were two broad consider in determining the price. 1) The pick-up location was considered. For e.g. the delivery charges for large residential complexes and apartments buildings were lower because of the concentration of customers that allowed for delivery pick-up economies. Less populated areas typically meant fewer customers and linger pick-up times for the dabbawallas, and therefore, the prices to service those areas were higher. 2) The second consideration was time. For customers who could not deliver dabbas by the stipulated pick-up time, their charges were higher by up to 25%. If the pick-up time was too close to the lunch hours, requiring an expedited delivery service the charges were double Medge observed: We see future potential for revenue enhancement with such premium pricing indeed, customers with special needs and requests have gone up by 25%, from about 2000- to about 25000 in 2002 alone. Client service charges were generally increased across the board once every 2 years by 15%.this increase usually coincided with a major development, such a an increase in railway fares by the government.
Distribution system: The steps in the dabbawalas‘ food delivery system are as follows: The first dabbawala receives the customer‘s lunch container, at the same time every morning, from the meal preparer at the customer‘s home and transports it to the nearest railway station.
1. The second dabbawala at the rail station sorts the incoming containers by color code, routing them to the proper destination by loading them into the correct train‘s luggage car. 2. The third dabbawala travels on that train with the sorted meal containers and unloads them at the station nearest their destination 3. The fourth dabbawala picks-up the specific containers at the rail station that are bound for his customers, and he delivers them to the correct offices at lunchtime. 4. At this point, the steps are reversed, as the empty containers are picked up at the offices after lunch and returned correctly to all of the customers‘ homes later that day.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY: Considering the distribution strategies followed by the dabbawalas, they follow Decentralized collection and distribution; and semi-centralized sorting at pre defined major sectors. These major sectors are selected based on the volume of the dabbas dealt in that particular region. This has helped to move the distribution centers closer to the end customers thus improving the customer service quality as the response time is lowered. Since in the dabbawala network tier 1 customer (the distributing dabbawlas) are closer to the end consumer, even if there is a delay in the supply of the dabbas to them, they are able to exactly identify the time lag and adjust the final distribution process so that they can deliver the dabbas within the appointment time. This effect can be identified as an adaptive feedback with real time information system which the companies involved in the logistics of food and beverage packaged goods can easily benchmark for their distribution processes.
Roles, Actions, Interactions and Responsibilities of “Mumbai Dabbawalas”: Every business process has certain roles, actions and interactions among those roles. Each role has certain responsibilities and those responsibilities are fulfilled by carrying out the actions that a specific role is responsible for. In the ―Mumbai
dabbawala case‖ we found out various roles namely the ―Housewife‖, who is responsible for preparing the food and packing the ―dabba‖. The ―Dabbawala‖ who is responsible for collecting the packed dabbas from various homes and carrying them to the station. There on the station a severe sorting of the ―Dabbas‖ takes place according
to
the
destination.
This
sorting
of
the
dabbas
is
again
the
responsibility of the dabbawalas .Apart from the dabbawalas there is another role on the station i.e. the ―Mukadaam‖, who takes the responsibility of supervising dabbawalas on the stations and also helps them in sorting the dabbas. He performs the role of a ―team leader‖. Loading and unloading of the crates on the various stations is done according to the destination types. This is again the responsibility of the dabbawalas and is done with excellent coordination and mutual cooperation amongst the team members.
Every business process is carried out with certain rules, and the Mumbai dabbawalas follow the rules of the process very religiously and with utmost discipline .Their discipline is such that no one is allowed to break the rules of the process not even the customer. They are fined if they do not follow or fail to follow the rules. These rules have become their culture., Rules like 100% punctuality on work, proper dressing while on work(wearing a Gandhi cap is a compulsion else a fine of 50 Rs, if a person is absent from work he has to pay a fine of 1000),no informal conduct or drinking or smoking is allowed while the working hours. Duty and Teamwork is given prime importance. Breaking of any of these rules can lead to severe consequences. Each person involved in the process knows his responsibilities very clearly and the actions and the interactions required for fulfilling those responsibilities, even their interactions in the working hours is according to the rules. This is their strength as the responsibilities very well justify the role these dabbawalas play. Every business process is divided over certain process types, in a particular business; there is a case process, a case management process and a case strategy process.
A case is a unit of work or an episode that needs to be dealt in some standard way. Here in the Dabbawala case, a unit of work is a ―dabba‖
that is dealt in a standard way i.e. it goes through a certain process before reaching its ultimate customer. Every dabba goes through the same standard process. Here every dabbawala is responsible for handling the unit of work ―dabba‖ and ensuring its safe and timely delivery.
This dabbawala is responsible for managing the flow of various case process instances i.e. the ―dabbas‖. He monitors their flow and manages scheduling among them. Managing, planning, organizing and monitoring the flow of dabbas is the case management process here.
Above these case processes and the case management processes there is a case strategy process that is responsible for taking a strategic view and driving the case processes (dabbas) and the case management process (Dabbawala) accordingly. This is done by the organizing committee, that consists of 5 members .The committee drafts out the policies and rules of the business process according to which the Mumbai dabbawalas have to work.
THE MAIN FEATURES OF SUPPLY CHAIN: Time is virtue: Punctuality and time management are on top of the agenda for dabbawallas. Whatever be the circumstances, employees never get delayed even by a few minutes. For years, they have been taking the same trains and buses. ―We have to cover a distance of 65 to 75 kilometers a day in three hours; we can‘t afford any delay‖, says Gangaram Laxman. Zero Technological Investment:
The whole Tiffin distribution requires negligible technology. ―This is one of the reasons why we are successful; our man power is highly efficient‖, said Gangaram. Interestingly, the average literacy at Dabbawallas is up to class VIII with more than 60 per cent of the total employees still illiterate. ―Intelligent people waste their time in asking questions whereas we only focus on fulfilling our responsibility‖, said Gangaram. A single weak link breaks the whole chain. All the members in a team should perform excellent
to
bring
a
perfect
result.
Corroborating this, Dabbawallas‘ honchos explained about different distribution and how each segment maintains its time-cycle. ―Ours is a war against time; we have no space for lapses‖, said president Raghunath. No discipline, no growth:
The dabbawallas have to follow three rules at any cost. (a) They have to wear white caps during working hours. (b) They are not allowed to drink alcohol during working hours. (c) They have to carry their identity cards If found flouting these norms, any employee can be punished and fined from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500. In extreme cases, the person might also be fired from the organization. ―A good leader could never make things run properly if there are flaws in the system‖, said Raghunath. ―One should never compromise with the discipline in the organization, as it hits the integrity of that association‖, he added. Error rate: 1 in 16 million transactions: ―I do not know the exact meaning of error, but one thing that I know is when you are serving someone, it is not acceptable to make mistakes‖, said Gangaram. Dabbawallas take 2 lakh Tiffin-boxes every day, resulting into the total transactions to 4lakh per day, still the error rate is one in 16 million transactions. That is how they have earned Six Sigma certification. ―No Strike‖ record:
The 5,000 employees of Dabbawallas‘ Association have never gone on strike. ―Whenever we feel that there could be dissatisfaction in anyone‘s mind, we simply tell them to take a leave and rest on that day; from the next day, the employee comes without any annoyance‖. Marketing funds: Due to their high reach to the commonest people, Dabbawallas‘ often carry the Pamphlets, stickers and other marketing material of different companies for a fee.
The highly efficient coding system: Although the average literacy of Dabbawallas‘ is class VIII and more than 60 percent are illiterate, all of them are well versed in decoding their exclusive coding system. Each area is divided into several small distribution sectors and each sector is handled by a particular person. This person understands the address in that locality very well. Also, this perfection comes with practice. Many new employees work for months under the guidance.
PET Analysis: Political analysis: Mumbai, Jun 3: With the stage set for Baba Ramdev‘s fast on Saturday, there seem to be a clear division in the voices for and against the campaign. The latest support has come from the dabbawalas of Mumbai and the thousands of Vidarbha farmers and farm widows who have agreed to offer their unwavering backing to the cause. Raghunath Medge, President of Nutan Dabbawala Trust said, ―Around 5,000 dabbawalas (lunch-box carriers) have extended their moral support to Baba
Ramdev." The move will become a moral high-point to the anti-corruption campaign for Ramdev and his supporters. Medge added that the dabbawalas will not be physically present in the venue to fast and show solidarity. He stated, ―If our dabbawalas also start fasting, around 2,00,000 Mumbaikars will have to go hungry. I wish we had a bigger workforce. Economic analysis: Everyone who works within this system is treated as an equal. Regardless of a dabbawala‘s function, everyone gets paid about two to four thousand rupees per month (around 25-50 British pounds or 40-80 US dollars). More than 175,000 or 200,000 lunches get moved every day by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. According to a recent survey, there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries. The American business magazine Forbes gave a Six Sigma performance rating for the precision of dabbawalas. The BBC has produced a documentary on dabbawalas, and Prince Charles, during his visit to India, visited them (he had to fit in with their schedule, since their timing was too precise to permit any flexibility). Owing to the tremendous publicity, some of the dabbawalas were invited to give guest lecturers in top business schools of India, which is very unusual. Most remarkably, the success of the dabbawala trade has involved no modern high technology. The main reason for their popularity could be the Indian people‘s aversion to fast food outlets and their love of home-made food. Technological analysis: Mumbai's famed 'dabbawalas', or tiffin suppliers are now getting special training in the English language as well as in the use of computers to enable them to understand the requirements of modern customers. The President of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers, Raghunath D. Medge, explained the need for learning computers and English. The special program of English and computer training was jointly launched
by the Mumbai Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) and the Agrawal Institute of Management and Technology for the 5,000 'dabbawalas' of the city.
"I am getting opportunity to start the batch, first batch of Mumbai dabbawalas to teach English as well as computer in my premises. Really it's a great honour for me," said Pawan G. Agrawal, President of Agrawal Institute of Management and Technology.
7P’S OF DABBAWALAS SERVICE: Product Element:
A Dabbawala (one who carries the Box), is a person in the Indian city of Mumbai whose job is to carry and deliver freshly made food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. Tiffin is an old-fashioned English word for a light lunch, and sometimes for the box it is carried in. The product Element here is basically a service they provide to the office goers by delivering their Tiffin box or more commonly called as ‗Dabba‘ in the city of Mumbai. There are other ancillary physical products such as Tiffin Box, Gandhi Cap, and Video CD on Dabbawala, Dabbawala Mug, and Dabbawala Tshirt. These products are sold by the trust to earn more money and to work for the welfare of their members
Place: The Mumbai dabbawallas journey start from Andheri station. At this place they put all the dabbas collected from different places of houses. They load the wooden crates filled with Tiffin‘s onto the luggage or goods compartment in the train. Generally they choose to occupy the last compartment of the train. After that they unload all the dabbas on the Church Gate Station which is their destination place. They re-arrange the Tiffin‘s as per the destination area and destination building. In particular areas with high
density of customers such as Nariman point, Fort, Cst a special crate is dedicated to the area. This crate carries 150 Tiffin‘s and is driven by 3-4 dabbawallas. After that return journey start at all destination stations. Here begins the collection process where they have to collect Tiffin‘s from different offices where they have delivered an hour ago. Then they segregate the dabbas at destination stations. Finally they again reach to their origin place (Andheri station) where the final sorting and dispatching takes places according to their origin area.
Promotion and Education: •Dabbawala‘s are in Tiffin distribution field since last 125 years hence they don‘t need any promotional tool for their business. Though they are used by other business units as promotional tool for their business units •Orders through SMS and online is accepted by the organization and they have come up with a site named mydabbawala.com •As reliance power is making best use of them. If you receive dabba it is very possible that you will get IPO application along with it. •Maharashtra government has roped them in to spread of AIDS awareness. •Film industry is using them to promote their films. Example at time of movie tashan release they were used and the response to it was very good. •World record in best time management with Six Sigma rating. •Name in ―GUINESS BOOK of World Records‖. •Registered with Ripley‘s ―believe it or not‖. •World record in best time management. •Participated in ―Deal Ya No Deal Contest ―by Sony Entertainment Television
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT: Mumbai is the financial hub of the country. It is the most populous city in India and the second most populous in the world, with approximately 20 million inhabitants. It generates a big part of income generated in India. The climate of Mumbai is humid between March and October, and rains lash the Mumbai from June to September. Mumbai is facing high problem during the rainy season. They are mainly facing the problem of floods from last three to four years. But still Dabbawala are working their work continuously. So we can say that they have to do hard work to survive in the Physical Environment:
Providing service in highly populated city.
Have to travel 60-70 kms in a route.
Have to travel by walking, cycle, carts and even by Local trains.
Have to travel from one place to another in hot summers.
Have to face the lot of crowd for the fulfillment of service.
Even they have to provide service in high rains. The person who serves Tiffin to the customer is well known about the
physical environment of that area and because of that Dabbawalas are able to serve in every season so this helps a lot to Dabbawalas in achieving Six Sigma.
PEOPLE:
Dabbawalas are serving people from last 125 years and the individuals who are associated with dabbawalas in serving people are 8th grade pass, so we can say that dabbawala‘s are helping affluent class by serving them and also the needy class by making them serve. The very interesting facts which we would like to mention over here is there are 5000 dabbawala‘s and each and every dabbawala is shareholder of the system. 635 of them are senior employees, but there is no hierarchy and president of the company also works as dabbawala, travels with them, and share with them. It shows that the people associated with this company are down to earth and this is the reason why there is not even a single strike during 125 years of their work. In Mumbai the dabbawala must be Marathi and if he got older than he can refer his relative in his place, so we can say that all dabbawala‘s are from same region so there is least chance of conflict between them. Price: The Cost of Service per person is Rs250/month it is Standard price for all (Weight, Distance and Space). The Dabbawalas Turnover is Approx Rs 50cr.Total Earning of 20 people
is Rs125000. Earning per person varies
from Rs5000 to
6000/month. Maintenance Cost is Rs 35000 per year. Tiffin Luggage Basket pass is Rs 180 per person. Maintenance Cost of cycles is Rs300 that is for 2cycles per month .Maintenance of wooden boxes is Rs100 per person .If any Police robbery of Tiffin is Rs500 yearly. An organizational fee is Rs 15 per head and Puja held per station Rs50 per head. They get Diwali bonus one month‘s from customers.
Process The process of dabba delivery starts at 9:30 in morning and ends at 4:40 in evening: as I have explained the process before it is the short description of the process; 1) The dabbas are collected by dabbawallas at origin station and sorted according to the destination station. 2) In the second step the journey of dabbawallas start in train towards the destination station.
3) After reaching to the destination again the unloading and sorting of dabbas starts and this time according to the destination area and building. 4) After delivering all the dabbas its time to dabbawallas to have their own lunch they carry their food with them and area wise sit together and have their food. 5) Now the time comes to collect the empty dabbas from the place where they have delivered it and sort them according to the destination station. 6) Then again the journey starts in train to return from where they have started. 7) After reaching sorting of dabbas are done again to return those dabbas to the place from where they picked-up that dabba. This is how the whole process takes place.
Analyzed from the Michael Porter's Five Forces Model: 1. Threat of new entrants: According to Porter, the threat new entrants are dangerous to any organization as it can take away the market share the organization enjoys. Started in 1880, the experience curve of the 125-year-old dabbawalla service serves as a huge entry barrier for potential competitors. Besides, it would be difficult to replicate this supply chain network that uses Mumbai's jam-packed local trains as its backbone. 2. Current competition: Porter's five forces theory states that strategy is determined by a unique combination of activities that deliver a different value proposition than competitors or the same value proposition in a better way. The dabbawallas do face competition from fast food joints as well as office canteens. However, since neither of these serves home food, the dabbawallas' core offering remains unchallenged. They have also tied up with many catering services and hotels to cater to the vast number of office goers. 3. Bargaining power of buyers:
The delivery rates of the dabbawallas are so nominal (about Rs 300 per month) that one simply wouldn't bargain any further. Also, their current monopoly negates any scope of bargaining on the part of their customers. Thus, we encounter a perfect win-win combination for the customers as well as the dabbawallas. 4. Bargaining power of sellers: The dabbawallas use minimum infrastructure and practically no technology, hence they are not dependent on suppliers. Since they are a serviceoriented organization, they are not dependent on sellers to buy their product. Hence, sellers do not assume any prominence as would be the case in a product-oriented company. The strategy map framework in Porter's theory allows companies to identify and link together the critical internal processes and human, information and organization capital that deliver the value proposition differently or better. Human capital is the greatest driving force in the dabbawalla community; as a result, they are not dependent on suppliers or technology, thus negating the seller's power in the equation. 5. Threat of a new substitute product or service: As substitutes to home cooked food are not seen as a viable alternative in the Indian scenario, the threat to the dabbawalla service is not an issue at least in the foreseeable future. This gives them a leeway to probably expand their already existing network into newer cities as demand increases in these places as well.
Promotional tie ups: The dabbawalas of Mumbai are not just delivering lunches but have become a means of direct marketing for many companies from mutual funds to soft drinks. The best part is the company can reach over a lakh of customers directly. The ISO certifies dabbawalas are also getting the benefit by earning a couple of hundreds more. The means of advertising is sure to reach the people as the dabbawalas never lose the delivery. This means can also be used by the India Inc. to communicate effectively about the promotional activities as the people catered by the dabbawalas are mostly the middle income class. The dabba has now transformed to a marketing communication tool.
Alpenliebe mangofillz: The most recent promotion is that of confectionery company, Perfetti Van Melle India (PVMI). The company recently distributed its newly launched liquid-filled, mango-flavored candy, Mangofillz with each dabba sent out. In all, Perfetti distributed over two lakh Mangofillz candies through the dabbawalas, thus reaching a large consumer base of about two lakh people. Ashish Kapoor, group product manager, Perfetti Van Melle India says, "The amazing network of dabbawalas appealed to us, as it gelled well with our plan of reaching the customers and making them experience the tantalizing flavour of Mangofillz." Yash Raj Films Tashan: YRF tied up with Mumbai dabbawalas as a part of the film's latest promotion. In which, the dabbawalas wore a bright Tashan T-shirt and the dabba too had the Tashan's sticker with a paan attached to it. Monica of YRF said, "The 'dabbawala' initiative was YRF's in-house brainwave. The response to which was very good. Tashan means style and that's why we wanted to add a little bit of style to the way the people eat their lunch!" Reliance Power IPO: Reliance Money, the financial services and products distribution company of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has latched on to a marketing innovation. The firm has roped in the Six Sigma perfected dabbawalas to get an edge in their run-up to the Reliance Power IPO, among a host of other tradable financial services. He dabbawalas will not only carry Reliance Money‘s messages across the city, they will even pick up requests and completed forms from customers back to the company. Sahara One: Sahara One has taken on the services of the Mumbai dabbawalas to promote what they call Television Ka Naya Rang. Under this campaign, initiated by the
channel, close to 2500 dabbawalas across the city have being wearing the branded jacket and distributing Sahara One's menu card and contest details for on air cricket contest Naya Rang Cricket ke Sang along with the dabbas. The five day promotion kicked started on 3 April and will go on till 8 April.
Corporation Bank: The dabbawalas have been working with the bank by distributing its forms among their customers and providing them with details about the products and services of the bank by circulating their pamphlets Moreover, in return to their services, the bank has facilitated the opening of accounts for around 1,000 dabbawalas and they also earn incentive in the form of money for making the bank's services reach their customers. UTI Mutual Funds The Mumbai-based dabbawalas are now coming to the rescue of the mutual fund industry looking for a cheaper communications vehicle for promoting its schemes. With mutual funds slashing ad budgets in times of a slowdown, UTI Mutual Fund has taken the initiative to opt for a less expensive means for communicating its schemes through the strength of 5,000-odd dabbawalas in Mumbai.
Marico Industries‘ Saffola:
The dabbawalas, along with delivering hot, nutritious lunches to offices in Lower Parel, Nariman Point, Churchgate and Bandra-Kurla Complex on September 25, also handed out pledge cards to office goers on which they had to sign to take care of their heart and health.
AIDS awareness campaign: To create awareness about HIV/ AIDS among the Mumbaikars, voluntary bodies working to prevent the disease supplemented the AIDS awareness project by roping in the famed Dabbawalas of Mumbai on World AIDS Day Organizations such as Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society (MDACS), Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) Avert Society, Nirman along with USAID distributed T-shirts among the Dabbawalas. These garments had messages of AIDS awareness printed on them. Khatron ke khiladi: Now Akshay, who has tasted success on the small screen with the first edition of the reality show, wants to make this second edition even bigger and promote it in a big way. Since he can‘t visit every Mumbaikar, Akshay has teamed up with around 5000 dabbawalas who will wear masks with his face printed on them while delivering food.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILIES: •Started ―Dharmashala in Bhimashankar district in the year 1930 •Maharashtra government prorogates HIV awareness through Dabbawalas channel •Innovative workplace programmes caries HIV prevention messages:
Indian & Americans in partnership to fight HIV/AIDS plan consist of reaching Mumbai office workers with HIV/AIDS prevention message in their lunch bases through Dabbawala network is the innovative programs supported by the emergency plan. On world AIDS day 2005, the project delivered lunches containing information about HIV/AIDS asapproximately 2 lacks office goers the 5000 Dabbawalas delivered lunch boxes. The emergency plant supported efforts of the Dabbawala association to include in the lunches creatively designed materials & coasters bearing messages reflecting the World AIDS Day theme "Stop AIDS, Keep The Promise. "I n a d d i t i o n to
t h e s e s world AIDS Day activities the program works throughout the year to
reach out to corporations to address HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
“STOP AIDS, KEEP THE PROMISE”
Using a centuries-old institution in India, the Dabbawala Lunchbox Campaign has created a highly visible, innovative strategy to disseminate kits about HIV prevention, stigma and discrimination. HIV/AIDS is quickly becoming one of the biggest public health challenges in India, threatening to emerge as the largest cause of adult mortality in India
this decade. The Health Communication Partnership Associate Award (HCP AA) is working to stem the spread of the disease in Maharashtra State, home to nearly 50% of the known cases of HIV in the country. Using systematic, strategic and integrated behavior change with youth and other at risk groups, HCP AA supports the State‘s vision of reducing HIV transmission and strengthening the civil and state agency response. Thousands of HIV prevention messages spread across Mumbai, traveling not across the airwaves but in lunchboxes strapped to bicycles or literally carried to office workers. Using a centuries-old institution in India, the Dabbawala Lunchbox Campaign has created a highly visible, innovative strategy to disseminate kits about HIV prevention, stigma and discrimination. Approximately 5,000 dabbawalas pick up lunch boxes (dabbas) each day from homes and deliver them to an estimated 200,000 workers across Mumbai. The dabbawalas serve as both audience and channel for the campaign‘s HIV messages. The campaign was supported by integrated print and electronic media, as well as high profile ministers and decision makers who donned red ribbons. The campaign, which was part of World AIDS Day interventions in 2005 and 2006, reached an estimated 100,000 office workers and 4 million Mumbaikars. The Dabbawala Campaign is just one of the creative ways the Health Communication Partnership Associate Award (HCP AA) is reaching out to workers, youth and at risk groups in Maharashtra. The project also created the ―Jawan hoon, Nadan nahin‖ (I‘m young, not naive) youth campaign to increase risk perception and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, using television, radio, a comic book series, music videos and interactive games. Survey results showed 90 percent of respondents were aware of the campaign‘s key messages. The project is working extensively with other at risk groups as well, targeting commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users (IDUs), men who have sex with men (MSM), truckers and migrants. Project decision makers know these groups were fatigued with the same messages and materials on HIV. To combat this, HCP AA invited these groups to workshops to design materials and messages together. The
workshops provided a forum for an exchange of ideas and tools. The result is the development of innovative, real-life stories and compelling messages told through street theater, puppets, and fictional tarot card readers. Led by CCP under the Health Communication Partnership, the project is successfully using participatory approaches to tailor messages, create fresh interventions and employ behavior change communication (BCC) and advocacy to make an impact on India‘s HIV epidemic in Maharashtra.
Six-Sigma:
The distribution system is handled by almost illiterate or as we can say semi literate people. Most of them uneducated or just servant or just fourth grade passed but this note make any different to them. Yet the system runs efficiently and is in prestigious position with achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING! It proudly shares this position with world famous giant management corporate like GE, MOTOROLA (Source: Forbes magazine U.S.A.). The reason behind this is the wonderful work system offered by them with only 0.01% error rate in comparison with the huge number of operations it indulges into. They have got the prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA RSTING because of their percentage of correctness which is just perfect up to 99.999995 i.e. six decimals or more than that. Not many of the topmost companies are even near to it. This is simply incredible. Though they have achieved SIX SIGMA RATING & a wide popularity, it cannot be neglected that the operations completely involve physical hard work & coping up with common modes of transport. He crowded modes of transport, traffic &roads, continuous physical work-it is not too easy. And we have even six p-seventy years‘ old
patrons doing it for a living. These are the people who treat customer as GOD & run whole of their life for their GOD.
ISO 9001:2000:
ISO 9001:2000 specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable regulatory requirements. A Dabbawala who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting the freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office workers (mostly in the suburbs), delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning back the empty boxes by using various modes of transport.
More than 175,000 or 200,000 lunch boxes get moved every day by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. Remarkably, they have not had any strike for 116 years. According to a recent survey, there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries. All these facts of this service industry made it applicable to hold an ISO 9001:2000 certificate.
AWARDS AND 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.
CASE STUDY made by: ICFAI Press Hyderabad & Bangalore Richard Ivey School of Business Canada Also, Included in a subject in Graduate School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley Invitations from: CII for conference held in Bangalore, IIML, IIMA, CII Cochin, CII Delhi, Dr. Reddys Lab Foundation Hyderabad, SCMHRD Pune, SCMHRD Nasik, Sadahana Pune, Rotary Club Bangalore, NIQR at Chennai
Radio: ‡ German Radio Network, Radio Mirchi, Radio MidBBC Radio, Radio City World record in Best Time Management with Six Sigma rating. Name in ´GUINESS BOOK of World
Records. Registered with Ripley's´ believe it or not. Participated in ´Deal Ya No Deal Contest‘ By Sony Entertainment Television Invited for marriage of Hon. Prince Charles of England on 9th April, 2005
Invitations from:
Mahindra & Mahindra - K andivli (Mumbai) and Nasik.
Sandoz Pharmaceuticals -Mumbai.
Indian School of Business (ISB)- H yderabad.
GE Money Servicing- H yderabad.
Microsoft - Gurgoan.
Genpact - H yderabad.
Community of cooked food -Italy.
Accenture -Mumbai.
Meetings of Confederation of
Stanfort University delegation to
India.
Symbioses Management School
- Pune.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation
Global Business School-
NM Dalmia College -Mumbai.
National Stock Exchange –
Reserve Bank of India
Indian Industries ( C II).
Ltd.
Nagpur.
Mumbai.
Meeting with Prince Charles:
When Prince Charles came to India, he requested a meeting with the Dabbawala's at a time which was inconvenient for them. This was primarily because of the fact that they had to deliver nearly 200,000 Tiffin‘s in the morning across the city and weren't in a position to jeopardize that just to meet a Prince:-. They then conveyed the message that they would be able to meet him around 11:20 AM, and that too at a station where they were doing the sorting of the Dabba's. The Prince was there sharp at 11:20 AM till 11:40 AM. This was the beginning of a friendship that would take the Dabbawala's places. That meeting caught the attention of the world wide press and is a feather in their cap till date. The story gets interesting, When the Prince decided to get married to Camilla Parker Bowles, he invited the Dabbawala's over to attend the wedding. They got to know that it was to take place on a day which was not auspicious according to the Hindu Calendar. Well what Prince Charles did was his business but the Dabbawala's got together on a Sunday to pray to the almighty to ward off any evil or any bad luck on him on the wedding day. By a stroke of luck because of some emergency the wedding got postponed by 1 day much to the joy of the Dabbawala's. In their own words they said ―Elizabeth was happy to know that we had prayed for Charles ".
Prince Charles Wedding Pheta: PUNE: Even as a debate rages in the UK over the forthcoming wedding of Prince Charles and his long-time friend Camilla Parker-Bowles, distant Maharashtra has not only come to terms with the alliance but has also prepared the aher (wedding gift) for the couple.
The famous dabbawalas of Mumbai, who were bowled over by Charles' charm during his recent visit to the metropolis, have decided to present a pheta (ceremonial turban) to Charles and a sari to his bride.
While deciding on a suitable sari was no problem, they did not know how they would be able to manage a pheta , since there would be no expert to tie it on the royal head. Pune's famous flag and pheta makers, Murudkar Zendewale, have solved this problem. Speaking to TNN Girish Murudkar, owner of the shop, said that it was actually his sister, now settled in Mumbai, who thought about asking her brothers to make the pheta . She contacted the, head of the dabbawalas organization, who was overjoyed and accepted the offer. "We have prepared a ready-to-wear traditional saffron pheta adorned with zari work and Australian diamonds for Charles. The work is finished and the pheta will be sent to Mumbai on Wednesday for its onward journey to the UK," Girish said. It is definitely going to be a pheta that will be fit the royal occasion. "We have vast experience of making phetas for royal Indian families," Girish pointed out. The Murudkars have vast experience in catering to the whims and tastes of royal and VVIP heads. From President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to Bollywood stars, all have worn a Murudkar pheta . In fact during election time, the Murudkars have to keep a special
team ready to hop from one election rally to another to tie the phetas around senior politicians' heads.
Sir Richard Branson’s visit: After Prince Charles and Sir Richard Branson, United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke on Friday met the dabbawalas here to understand their coding system for efficient delivery of lunch boxes and praise them for their management model. ―We are happy that our management model and coding system is receiving world-wide applause. Visits by such big people only make us glad,‖ Sopan Lakshman Mare, chairperson of Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association, said after meeting Mr. Locke with a delegation of around 30 dabbawalas.
The dabbawalas felicitated Mr. Locke by giving him a varkari shawl, a bouquet of flowers, sweets, Gandhi cap and a tiffin box. Mr. Locke gave them a memento seal with his name and department inscribed on it.The dabbawalas attracted international attention after Prince Charles and Sir Branson of the Virgin Group visited them and appreciated their efficiency. ―This is our third generation in the business now. We never go on strike. We have been doing this for the past 120 years. Of the 5,000 dabbawalas, half are illiterate, but our functioning has never been hampered. We are Six Sigma certified. We are happy that so many people want to learn management lessons from us,‖ Mr. Mare said.
The heart remains the same: ―This is a sustainable organization. No matter what happens in this world, whether I am here or not, it will still go on,‖ insists Manish. ―The dabbawalas will keep doing their job, it will go on forever, the brand value is huge and the need is there.‖ His ultimate goal is to get the full cooperation of all the dabbawalas, but he realizes this will be a long process. ―I do not think that any change can be brought about without hardship. Anybody who says that he wants to change something should be ready to accept criticism and he should be ready to face hardship, because change and ease never go hand in hand. ―But I am happy to do what I do, because we cannot achieve everything in one day. Hopefully, in 10 to 15 years, our members will realize they can make something more out of their lives,‖ he says. In the meantime, Manish is working on a book about the dabbawalas: ―I already have the content for it. There will be two parts: one on our organization and its history, the other on 30 management lessons from the dabbawalas,‖ he says. Though Ivy League universities and Fortune 500 companies all over the world hanker after the dabbawalas‘ secret to success, coming out in droves to hear Manish speak nowadays, the heart of the organization remains anchored in hard work and a team effort. Using an almost instinctive supply chain management methodology, the dabbawalas toil day in and day out to do what they do best: delivering dabbas correctly and on time to their customers.
Order through SMS: 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.
The lessons learnt are: Utmost dependence on Human Capital: The most vital link in this chain of food delivery is human capital. The procedures could have been laid down over a century ago, but it is the implementation of the procedures that makes the system work. The Mumbai dabbawalas propagate that correct amount of human dependence can yield amazing results.
Be loyal to your organization: One should be loyal to his organization and inculcate the culture in not only him but also within his family. (Till today no dabbawala has left his job and there are generations serving the profession)
Honesty and Integrity: The threads of integrity and honesty hold the dabbas together. Though it is lunchtime for dabbawalas also, the aroma wafting from the dabbas has never tempted them. Overcoming a basic instinct like hunger is possible only because of strong roots in a culture that encourages truthfulness and integrity.
Discipline and Time Management: The dabbawalas operate on the Chanakya system of Sama-Dama-Danda-Bhed for the errant members. This ensures that the errant member stays within the system. Secondly, they are extremely particular about time and realize the value of every second in the value chain. So much so that when Prince Charles wanted to meet them, they gave him a precise time slot so that the thousands others would not have to skip their lunch.
Pride towards their work: The dabbawalas take their role as 'Annadatas' very seriously. For them, the delivery of tiffins is much beyond a job – it means quelling the hunger that strikes the customer when lunch hour approaches. And so they move about their mission briskly with a smile, making sure they are never late.
Keep your costs and charges low: Control costs and keep your charges low so that you can provide affordable services to customers. (Dabbawalas charge only 300-350 p.m. and use trains and bicycles to control costs)
Know your role in the execution of work: One should know his exact role in the entire supply chain and perform his duty. (Dabbas change hand at least thrice before reaching the customer and there are three different people doing the job)
Recruitment policies and manpower management: Over the years, the dabbawalas has become a growing community of busy delivery-men who carry out their work with honesty and commitment. This is because each person in the value chain is selected very carefully and with due recommendation only. The implication of the word 'recommendation' is different from the common parlance – the referrer assumes responsibility for the incumbent's conduct throughout the working life.
Complete Contentment: There was an unseen halo of positive vibrations around the members who delivered the talk. The glow on their faces came from complete contentment with their lives. They seemed as if they possessed all the happiness and riches in life. 'Be contented in what you have' is the principle that governs their life. This is particularly surprising because the members earn not more than 5-6 thousand a month and lead a very hard life compared to most of us. Still there was not even an iota of stress on their faces – quite contrary to many others who earn much more than them.
Musical Meditation: The dabbawalas belong to a sect called Warkari that regularly chants songs of praise to the Lord. Their daily bhajans sessions seem to play an important role in relieving the day's stress. They truly embody a living where one looks beyond materialistic earnings and serves with commitment for a cause.
Do business at your own terms: Never bend your back or compromise of your principles. It will pay in the long term. Do not change your rules to please someone at the cost of your customers. (When Prince Charles met the dabbawalas, he did that between 11.20 to 11.40 at Churchgate station, since that is the time when the dabbawalas are doing sorting. The CM of Maharashtra also met the dabbawalas at the platform of Churchgate station and came 5 mins before appointment)
The customer is god: It's in this shared background, according to Tripathi, that the customer is, almost literally, god. "I meet a lot of corporate guys and what they tell me is Monday morning is the worst of their life," he said. "They know the hell that is in front of them... Whenever we are working, we do not have any stress at all - because serving people is serving god."
By serving people - that is, god's creations - the dabbawalas are
effectively serving god: "We treat our customer as god, or the reflection of god - and we serve our customer as if we were serving god."And while the dabbawala system may have.. ...been run in much the same way for over a century, its members have adapted their service to fit the changing nature of Indian society in the 21st century "These days‘ being single has become a fashion - more and more people are choosing to remain single. There's no one at home to cook food for them - so we collect food from the restaurants and deliver. "If you want continental food, we serve it. If you want Mexican food, we serve it. If you want food without salt, we serve it. Whatever food you want, we serve it," Tripathi said.
Sustained success will lead to fame: The dabbawalas believe in doing their work properly and have been ensuring that the 'zero error' flag is held high. The one thing that emerged very strongly is that they continue to do their work without thinking about any gain. Maybe that's why success and popularity is chasing them. I do not know about you, but I could not help thinking about these humble angels all night. Is it not strange that though the Mumbai Dabbawalas have been operating since 1890 and it is only recently that you and I have noticed them? If the Dabbawalas had not received due recognition from Prince Charles, Harvard and C K Pralhad, would there be packed audiences to listen to their talk? The answer is obvious. Why does one need a phoren certificate to appreciate local goodness? I urge you to look around and discover many noble souls like the Mumbai Dabbawalas. These souls may not have received the limelight yet, but continue to carry out their work quietly. If one develops a keen eye to notice positives, one can
achieve success in every endeavor. So, begin fishing for goodness - starting today. If you apply your mind to this, I am sure you will be able to gain much more than what I could. Do share your experiences with me on
[email protected] of Luck and Happy Learning!
No employees, just members: Another factor that the dabbawalas believe contribute to the organization‘s success is that it doesn't have employees - it has members. Started in 1880, the dabbawalas' operation became a charitable trust in 1956 with every worker paid the same from the organization‘s profits. "Everyone is a shareholder and I need not tell you what the difference is," Tripathi said. "If I am an employee, no matter if I do bad job or worse job... I get a pay cheque at the end of the month." Dabbawalas deliver
to
offices
anywhere
in
reach
of
Mumbai's
railway
system
"In 120 years [that the dabbawala business has operated] we have never gone on strike," he added. "The reason sounds very simple - each of us is a shareholder. Employees go on strike, shareholders do not." The dabbawalas also have a shared history, with members initially drawn from the same farming communities of Maharashtra. Today, the dabbawalas remain a close-knit bunch - when one dabbawala wants to leave, he must find his own replacement - with a common cultural background that encompasses religion, language, and food preferences.
Share the success with everyone: Success stays forever only when shared equally between all the people who worked for it. ―Howsoever big the organization is, its success depends on the efficiency of all the employees working for it; so they all need equal respect and gratitude as given to the senior members‖, said the Dabbawalas‘ president. Another lesson that Dabbawallas gave was that real lessons of life are never taught in the classroom. It is the commitment and determination of a person, which creates wonders. ―Nothing could be as important as the responsibility taken by you; this is the only principle dabbawallas‘ are following for last 116 years‖, said Raghunath the Dabbawalas‘ president.
And finally….. Earn Goodwill and work to keep it up (till today there has been no court/ police case against any dabbawala). Work towards customer satisfaction and not for recognition and awards (the dabbawalas were given six sigma and ISO without application)
SOME RECENT ARTICLES ON DABBAWALAS:
Delhi Not Suitable For Mumbai's Dabbawalas: The dabbawalas in Mumbai are a unique institution of the city, and have become part of management mantras as they deliver homemade food to thousands across the city. Recently many of them toured the capital city to sell their expertise to Delhi, and the results were not positive. ―Earlier also there were plans to start in other places, including London, but it is not easy. For us, distance and time management is most important. The stations need to be close to each other and everyone needs to be served lunch between 12 noon and 1 pm,'' said Anshuman Medge, Dabbawala. Known for their precisions in bookkeeping and delivery, plans were made many times before to replicate their model in different cities. While they were able to manage a set up in Pune, logistics did not suit in other cities.‘ The train system here works best for us. But in other cities, even Delhi, it is not the same. Also the distances are really far, so the road is ruled out, ‗said Anshuman Medge Dabbawala. The dabbawalas have always been popular, even Prince Charles was impressed with them. Many have been invited to lecture in top management schools and now the NCERT has dedicated a chapter to them in their textbooks. But for now, it seems that Delhi will not enjoy this service.
Tiffin meals on lines of Mumbai dabbawalas launched in US: Taking cue from success of ―dabbawalas‖ in Mumbai, a leading restaurant chain specializing in the Indian cuisine has launched its American version ―Tiffin Meals‖ — for Boston and Cambridge areas in Massachusetts States. One World Cuisine, a group of Boston area restaurants, said it would deliver food to homes and offices. Such services are already popular in the England, Australia and Singapore and the group hopes to make it a roaring success in the United States. Tiffin is a traditional Indian home and office food-delivery service made famous by Mumbai‘s ―dabbawallah‖ carriers. ―The launch of Tiffin Meals allows us to better serve our customers, whether in our restaurants, their homes or their offices,‖ said Amrik Pabla, president of the One World Cuisine group of restaurants, grocery stores and lounges. We‘re very excited to add ‗Tiffin Meals‘ to our roster of services. Now, our patrons can order their favorite meals with a click of a mouse on our Website. A fresh meal will be delivered to their desk or their door at home.‖
If the Dabbawallas were to replicate elsewhere, what would be the challenges involved? The Dabbawallas operate very efficiently in Mumbai because there are many factors in to operate Mumbai which are conducive to their functioning. But if they were to operate in Mumbai they would to operate elsewhere: A] Transportation-The Dabbawallas in Mumbai rely on the suburban railway system. The train route runs from north-south while the pedestrian traffic moves from east – west. So this facilitates easy movement of train traffic which works to their advantage. But this might not be the case with other cities which do not have a strong suburban railway network. So they would have to depend on road transportation which might get congested at times which might not allow the timely delivery of dabbas. B] Dabbawallas face competition from other catering sources. In metros, other than Mumbai, this behavior is very dominant. So this might affect their business heavily. C] Dabbawallas in Mumbai are a 125 year old Institute. There is no written book of records in which the accounts can be maintained. Everything is based on trust. But this
might not be the case elsewhere. Building trust takes time. So the level of efficiency might not be the same. E] Mumbai‘s life is fast paced. So, people don‘t have time to carry the dabbas. But this might not be the case elsewhere as the life in other cities is comparatively slow-paced.
ERROR-FREE CAREER: Gangaram Talekar (right), secretary, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust, having a word with Raghunath Medge, president of the Trust. Raghunath Medge, president, and Gangaram Talekar, secretary, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust, recently visited the Institute of Finance and International Management, a leading B-school in Bangalore. Mr. Talekar gave a background of the dabbawalas, saying how many of them were illiterates — `anguthawalas'. He shared their experience and learning on several key areas of managing businesses and its application in today's demanding work environment. The corporate world is wonderstruck as to how such a high level of quality has been achieved without any sophisticated formal management system in place. The incidence of error with dabbawalas is 1 in 16 million transactions and this earned them a Six Sigma performance tag of 99.999999 per cent. But the irony is that the dabbawalas don't even understand terms such as Six Sigma quality or supply chain management. In the past Prince Charles had rated the delivery service to be the cheapest in the world within the given time and the cost of such a service is approximately Rs. 10 per day for delivery and collection.
Mr. Medge said the discipline of the personality — physical, mental and spiritual — termed `anushasan' is their guiding philosophy. He drew a parallel with the cricket team where he said 20-25 dabbawalas formed a group of which a few were allrounders expected to handle any job that was required to be done for timely delivery. Dabbawalas have also factored in technology in their work by using cell phones, advertising through the dabbas and others which had greatly facilitated their working and which resulted in cost-effective operations. Professor Vijayasarathy, Director, IFIM B-School, said, "The students of IFIM B-School, as part of their regular Corporate Interaction session, had the rare opportunity of listening to the top managers of the dabbawala distribution network of Mumbai. This exercise helped our students realize that one can make things happen provided one has the will and the attitude to perform and excel. All other tools and techniques will only facilitate achieving the goal set by any individual or organization."
Mumbai’s dabbawallas hike rates: Sunday, July 04, 2010 5:42:25 PM by Mumbai, July 4 (IANS) Inflation is pinching Mumbai‘s world-famous dabbawallas, who ferry lunch boxes all over the city with mind-boggling efficiency. As a result, the service charge has been hiked by Rs.50 per customer from July. This is the second ―unavoidable hike‖ in two years - in 2008, the service charge was hiked by Rs.30, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers‘ Charitable Trust (NMTBSCT) president
Raghunath Medge told IANS. ―We shall request all the customers to bear with our predicament forcing us to hike our charges,‖ Medge said, almost sounding apologetic. Presently, the service is available to over 170,000 Mumbaikars for anything between Rs.350-500 per month per customer, depending on the distance commuted by suburban trains and the weight of the tiffin boxes. It includes pick-up in the morning and returning the empty box to the customer‘s home by late afternoon. ―Our normal rates work out to barely Rs.10-15 per day per customer, ensuring door-to-door delivery of the home-cooked food to the office/schools, and the empty tiffins back home. Compare us with an ordinary city courier service which levies a similar charge for a single delivery,‖ Medge said.
Mumbai dabbawalas to take out tableau on Republic Day: New Delhi, Jan 22 : With clanking tiffin boxes in hand, Mumbai dabbawalas scurry around India's business capital distributing food. Now the group, which is internationally lauded for its efficiency and time management, will represent Maharashtra in the Republic Day parade.
In this year's Republic Day parade, the theme for the Maharashtra tableau is the daily working of the dabbawalas. Clad in their traditional white garb, 12 dabbawalas from Mumbai will display their daily routine of picking up freshly-cooked food from various households, catching a local train and dropping the boxes off to people in their offices as well as returning the empty boxes. "Mumbai dabbawalas are known all around the world for their time management and accuracy. Everyone knows about them and they are a very important
part of Mumbai's bustling business districts," M.S. Rajput, assistant director in Maharashtra cultural affairs directorate told IAN Shere Friday. The tableau will represent various facets of the dabbawala's work, Rajput said, adding that they were "very hopeful of winning the best tableau award among states".
In Anna Hazare's support, no tiffin on Aug 16, say Mumbai's dabbawallas:
Extending support to social activist Anna Hazare over Lokpal Bill issue, Mumbai's famous dabbawalas (lunch-box carriers) Friday said there would be no service on August 16, the day he proposes to start his hunger strike. About 4,500-5,000 dabbawalas transport some 2, 00,000 homemade lunch packs everyday at a very low fee and with surprising punctuality. But not on August 16. "We support Anna Hazare in his fight for the strong Lokpal Bill. On August 16, when Annaji would go on a fast, we have decided to show our support by asking our customers not to give tiffins for delivery," said President of Mumbai Jeevan Dabbawala Association, Sopan Mare. "We will meet our customers next week in this regard. However, it is up to the customers whether they want to extend support by not giving tiffin boxes on August 16," he said.
Interview’s Mr. Pawan.G.Agarwal Objective of this interview: To know the history of Mr.Pawan.G.Agarwal in NMTBSA. As he is so closely related with this organization, to know his experience will prove very much fruitful to my research. To know the international popularity of NMTBSA To know what things Mr.Pawan.G.Agarwal has did for NMTBSA. Q1} How did You got associated with NMTBSA? He said: ―I Like to study, I Like to learn so I kept on studying Firstly I did my M.com then B.Ed., LL.B, A.C.S and in 2001 when I was pursuing my Ph.D. in logistics and supply chain management of Mumbai dabbawallas I got introduced to Mr. Raghunath. Medge the respective president of NMTBSA and Mr. Gangaram.Talekar the secretary and then I started to give presentations on NMTBSA and slowly and gradually they accepted me in their association as their official speaker.‖
Q2} What is the role of NMTBSA in your personal and professional life? He Said: ―As my personal life is concerned I feel that NMTBSA has changed my life and made my dreams come true quite good. And talking about my professional life while making a report you will see that how professional the dabbawallas are they all know how much expanded their work is, and they don‘t bother about money and other thinks they have a passion of serving so they do it with very much interest and while working with them the same affected me. Now I m as professional as they are, I m as passionate as they are, I am more towards serving then earning. They teaches me many things.
Q3} How Many institutes you have visited to render lectures on the topic
―Dabbawallas‖? He has rendered more than 300 lectures on ―Dabbawallas‖. He said: ―My job is to speak on behalf of them and about them which is my favorite job and I do it passionately while speaking on the topic Dabbawallas I forget everything I just go on talking about them
Q4} Special highlights of dabbawallas that you mention in your lectures? Q5} Which are the international institutes you visited for imparting lectures? Q6} Where you see yourself with dabbawallas after next 5 years? Q7} You have opened an education center for dabbawallas to train them in computers and English? How did you thought of doing so? Q8} How did you rate you experience with NMTBSA?
Q9} How you feel working with NMTBSA? He said: ―I feel proud that I‘m associated and working with such a great organization. I always feel good to do something for this organization.‖
Q10} Other than NMTBSA which are the institutes that you are associated with? Other then NMTBSA I‘m associated with: President: Kamlabai educational & charitable trust President: Agarwal Institute of Management & Technology Eminent
citizen:
development.
NAREGA
Govt.
of
India
ministry
of
rural
President: Dadasaheb Govindram Agarwal Engineering College. Founder: Agrasen Hindi Vidyalaya & Jr. College, Vikroli (W). Founder: St. Agrasen High School & Jr. College, Kalwa (E). Founder: Mansarovar vidyalay & Jr. College, Kamothe. Director: Agaewal E-training Pvt.Ltd, Mumbai. Past President: Lions club of Ghatkopar Editor: Guruvani Monthly Magazin.
Dabbawallas Note: The following information is based on responses of 20 dabbawallas; the statistical and theoretical information given below may change if responses of more than 20 dabbawallas are considered.
Q1} How many years you have been working with NMTBSA? The object behind to ask this question is as follows: •The answer will give details of exact no. of people who are loyal with the association. •The criteria for this research project is to take interview of those Dabbawallas who has completed more than one year service, So-this question help to sort our sample for research. •The question helps to know about the no. of younger generation's entry in this profession. •The suggestions of experience Dabbawallas are very fruitful so I get to know their numbers.
response in % 1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20
There are 10% of Dabbawallas which lies in 1 to 5 yrs of experience. The total percentile of 6-10 years experience of Dabbawallas is 20%.Out of 20 sample, 5 Dabbawallas lies in 11-15 years of experience & there percentile is25%.There are 20% of Dabbawallas which lies in 16 to 20 years of experience. The total percentile of 21-25 years experience of Dabbawallas is 5%.There are many Dabbawallas who has been working from more than 25 years with association. These higher senior categories of Dabbawallas are 20% of the strength that I interviewed.
Q2} Is monthly salary able to fulfill your basic needs? Dabbawallas are doing risky job. To travel Tiffin boxes through trains at peak hour, also as per requirement of the customer they provide services on public holidays. But they only get Rs. 200-300 per month per Tiffin from customer who contributes around Rs.5000-6000 monthly income. But to live in city like Mumbai, this amount is not capable to fulfill basic needs. T h e a i m o f t h i s q u e s t i o n i s t o k n o w o p i n i o n a b o u t t h e i r m o n t h l y i n c o m e . The 70% of Dabbawallas are satisfied with their salary, that to on the condition that they are only able to fulfill their basic needs. The remaining percentages of Dabbawallas i.e. 30% are not satisfied with their salary which is unable to fulfill their basic needs.
Dabbawalas salary satisfaction satisfied Not satisfied
Q3} DO you have insurance cover for yourself? If yes then Has association insured your life? The object behind to ask this question is to know how may Dabbawallas thinks about their life & do investment to secure it. The object behind to ask this question is to know how may Dabbawallas thinks about their life & do investment to secure it. I didn‘t got any good reply from them, out of 20 dabbawallas only 1dabbawala was such who was having an insurance cover and that too was not sponsored by the association it was his owned policy. Rests of 19 Dabbawallas have not secured their life because they don't have sufficient amount to invest in insurance. But they wish to invest in insurance. They want government or association should do to secure their life or give them insurance. The object behind to ask this question that has association insure their life is that the Nature of their job is physical they do field work so necessity of insurance cover is must for them. To protect life of each & every Dabbawala is prime responsibility of association; but they are unable to protect life of all Dabbawallas; because below income rate. I received 100% negative answer for this question. Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier Association (NMTBSA) has not provided protection cover & not in the future thinking about to give protection cover to all their members. Member of the association
are privately taking insurance cover from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for their & repentant. They wish that association or Government should provide them insurance cover at .................................. which they will capable to pay.
Q4} Do your customers pay you regularly? The objective of asking this question is to know that do the customers of dabbawallas coordinate with them or not. And the response I got was most amazing each and every dabbawalla told me that they don‘t have any single customer in their list who makes delay in their payments and also don‘t have any who has created bad debts they say ―That they are loyal towards our loyalty‖. They belief that if we will make any mistake in rendering service ultimately customers will not be satisfied and will not maintain regularity in payments, but if we satisfy them they will ultimately satisfy us.
Q5} Do you get any cooperation from transport authority? The objective of asking this question is to know do they find any difficulty in their work due to interruptions of transport authorities like ticket checkers traffic police. 70% of dabbawallas says that they have been never troubled by any kind of transport authority because they are easily recognized by ever one because of their attire and dabbas in their hand, and as they travel from same rout every day they are known by everyone and they never interrupt them as any interruption will create a problem in their schedule. 30% of dabbawallas says that they have been many a time disturbed by transport authority this is because of high security in Mumbai due to bomb blasts and also some times because we were new in the profession and the transport authority didn‘t know them.
Q6} Do you get any retirement benefit or old age benefit from NMTBSA? Northern Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is not providing any
retirement benefit or old age benefit to their members. The frequency of this question's answer is100% No. so I say it is 100% negative answer. There is little reason behind this. •NMTBSA charges low fees from their customers •They do not have sufficient balance to provide retirement benefit •Whatever monthly income they earn, they equally distributed within itself. •If any Dabbawala want to retire or leave job, he can do by selling his clients to association, that time association give him a lumsum amount; which is only source of income for them after retirement or resignation.
The Dabbawalas association has "DAKKHAN MAVALE SAHAKARI PATPEDHI" this gives personal loan to members at very reasonable rate. The members can take benefit after retirement also. So the gap of old age benefit or retirement benefit to members is partially filled up by this scheme.
Q7} As per the nature of job, had you faced any injury during your work? The object behind to ask this question is to know risk gravity in their job. Doing field work job in Mumbai city is too hectic, & handle time management side by side is very impossible. So doing these kinds of job, what kind of problem they face & how they tackle in was the prime aim behind this question.25% of Dabbawala met with an accident in the course of duty. They also mention reason of an accident. The reasons are as follows.
The four wheeler struck to cycle at the time of delivering dabbas.
Accident when was riding cycle.
Many times vehicles struck to their cycle.
The remaining 75% Dabbawala said that they know the art of riding cycle with carrying Tiffin boxes. But they are not denying that in the future they will not meet with an accident. Means there is a lot of risk they carry at the time of delivering. Tiffin Boxes.
Q8} Other than NMTBSA, have you been working somewhere else? The Dabbawalas are getting only Rs. 5000-6000 monthly. This amount is not sufficient to live in Mumbai. The Dabbawalas family consists spouse, children, parents; all are totally depends on them.90% of Dabbawalas are not doing any work, because they get completely tired after doing daily work & are unable to do other kind of part-time job.10% of Dabbawalas who are young they do part-time job in morning or in evening. Such as: •Doing work in offices as peons. •Working as machine operator in factories. •Playing Nasik dhol in troupes of dhol players.
Q9} Do You Satisfy working with NMTBSA? This is the key question of this research work. The entire conclusion is depending on it. The question will give statistical percentage of satisfied Dabbawallas. These six sigma service providers are really satisfied or not is the main object behind this question. The 95% of Dabbawallas are satisfied while working with association. They feel prestige while working with Association. Their inner satisfaction is reason behind their job satisfaction. "Service to customer is service to god" is formula behind their job satisfaction. Only 5% of Dabbawalas are not satisfied because they are educated & they feel uncomfortable while working with association due to unemployment they came to this profession. The nature of the job & risk involved in it is other reason behind their dissatisfaction.
Q10} How do you Rate your Experience with NMTBSA? This question helps to know about their past experience also to know about their exact job satisfaction level. The question gives idea about
Dabbawallas opinion about their association; the Dabbawallas are spending their work life with association so how they rate their experience is the prime factor in this job satisfaction research.30% of Dabbawallas mark as "Excellent" level about their work experience.55% of Dabbawallas mark as "Very Good" working experience with association.15% of Dabbawallas mark as "Good" level about their work experience. The important thing is that no one marks on Bad & Very bad level of experience with Association. So I say this is 100% positive answer.
Findings related to dabbawallas: Financial level: The Dabbawalas are financially not sound they are earning only Rs. 5000Rs.6000 per month & their entire family is depending on them
Family level: There job is physical in nature so after doing full day duty they become tired & are unable do other kind of part time job. Their family members also work to contribute in to family income.
Personal level: Dabbawala provides good quality of service to their customer as per their demands; they keep aside their self view & do their work honestly. Doing work in team is the key element of their self satisfaction. Their relations with peers contribute to improve their self satisfaction level.
Social level: The association has not secured their members life & also they do not provide any social security cover to them. 100% no support from the association related social security cover.
Suggestions & Recommendations:
As dabbawala face problems in local trains during peak hours, there should be a separate luggage compartment for them during morning peak hours from 8:30 am
to 11:30am
To overcome the difficulty of carrying heavy weight on their head while climbing over bridge, dabbawala can use trolleys with the help of railway authorities.
To overcome the problems of road transport of bicycle and hand cart, the RTO authorities should allow them an exclusive entry in some areas during particular time as they allow such entry for BEST buses or light vehicles.
There should be a provision for special parking places for their bicycles and hand carts near station areas to avoid damage or theft of these vehicles.
To increase turnover of dabbawala, they can use marketing strategy to make the people aware that how home cooked food is good for health.
Low cost or no cost marketing strategy can be used by dabbawala to popularize their services. The researcher suggests some strategies as follows: o
Distribution of handbills nearby customer‘s residence, offices and station areas during their free time or in the evenings.
o
They can organize road shows for awareness of how home cooked food is good for health.
o
They can organize human chain to convey the message of importance of home cooked food.
o
They can organize rally with message banners like ―Gharacha Aahar, Sakas Aahar‖ (Home food, nutritious food)
o
They can paint the same message on their hand carts using attractive colors.
Organization can take leading part in providing education to dabbawalas after their working hours with the help of NGOs and government organizations.
The researcher suggests use of modern technology by dabbawalas in the following fields :o
Maintenance of computerized records centrally.
o
Receiving orders through e-mail or SMS services in organization‘s office.
o
Receiving complaints or follow-up through e-mail or SMS services in
organization‘s office. o
By starting their own website in order to spread awareness about their functioning.
As some other people are competing with the business of dabbawalas, to face this competition, the researcher suggests following : o
To prepare food for those customers who cannot get home cooked food.
o
Dabbawalas can involve ladies for cooking food.
o
Preparing food by dabbawalas themselves can be utilized for those customers whose family is not available for a particular period, like during summer vacation, etc.
Conclusion: Managing more than 5000 Dabbawallas daily is really increased! So what kind of Human resource policy they have adopted & how do they implemented it, was the objective behind these report. Which are satisfactory completed, & I got some key formulas, principles of their effective Human resource management system from this project work. The lacks of office goers, 5000 Dabbawallas & risky job schedules, all these kind of problems they are able to handle only due to their efficient Human resource management system. Mr. Dhondiba Medge formed Human Resource Policy for Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers' Association. He set core values for the Association, these improved their system. The key feature of their Human Resource Management is flat organizational structure. These are able to maintain no communication barriers from top level to lower level. All Dabbawalas are employer of the association, there has no any employee-employer relation. This thing is them motivational factor behind their job satisfaction. Effective delegation of authority helps them to do work effectively. From top level to lower level Dabbawalas know their work & their target which helps to effective job specification. They have implemented Human Resource Policy in their organization, these contains strict disciplinary rules of employment, dress code & effective training &development facility to new joiners. They follow management principles in their organization such as Team work, Time
management, Innovation, Customer relationship management & six sigma. Because of these they called as "Management Guru". Human
resource
policy,
Manpower
planning.
Training
&
Development, Disciplinary Code of conduct & their Corporate Social Responsibility activity are the key result areas of their Human Resource Management system. Their daily earning is not sufficient to fulfill their basic needs but whatever they earn out of from it some amount they spend in FSR activities. 'We are the part of society which provides many resources to us, so it is our prime duty to give back to society'-these CSR principle they follow. The organization has gained a lot of appreciation from foreign countries but it still in some ways or other not fully appreciated by its own countrymen. Organization can do a lot to perform better but it needs support & word appreciation firm its own countrymen. It so, it will even leave back the top world0running entrepreneurs & give India a place of pride on the world map.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: WEB SITE: www.myDabbawala.com www.expertbase.org www.scribd.com www.mumbaidabbawala.org www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com www.Wiki/Dabbawala.org INTERVIEW: Dabbawalas Mr. Pawan .G. Agarwal (CEO of MTBSA)
Book: Dabbawala of Mumbai By Pawan.G. Agarwal
