The Dabbawala System: On-Time

Delivery, Every Time

Presented by,Group-3

Service Marketing (2012-2016)May 16th, 2016

Who is dabbawala?

A person with a box Supplies the house made food to the person

carrying in the lunchboxes Also known as tiffinwala, tiffin supplier or

annadata.

NMTBSA

Started in 1890 under British rule Registered in a charitable trust in 1956 under

as Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier (NMTBSA) Education: 85% illiterate Total Area Coverage: 60-70 kms Employees: 5000 Transaction per day: 260000 dabbas Time taken: 3 hours

Supply Chain

Pick up from residence and bring it to train station

Journey in local train

Uploading and sorting at destination station

Delivery to respective customer

Collection of empty dabba

Sorting at destination stations

Returning dabba

Work System

5000 dabbawalas with workload of 35 lunchbox each

Group of 25 members each roughly 200 groups

Each group assigned leader Group Autonomy Groups assigned different destination to

receive lunch box and deliver Charge: IRs. 600-1000 per month per client

(after 2014 10% hike)

Achievements

Six Sigma Certification by Forbes group Rough estimation of 1 error in 16 million

transactions ISO 9001:2000 Certification Outstanding service organization awards by

NIQR (National Institution for Quality and Reliability)

Best time management record holder Documentaries (BBC, MTV, TV Tokyo etc.)

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Simplicity in organization with innovative service

Coordination, team spirit and time management

Low operating cost Customer satisfaction

Weakness

High dependability on local trains Funds for association Limited access to education

Opportunity

Tie up with caterers to serve variety of meals Opportunity of expansion of service in

Mumbai metro Booking of services through internet and SMS

recently started

Threats

Indirect threats from fast food chain and hotels

Catering services offering tiffin service Food court at malls

Success Factors

Low cost delivery Delivery reliability Decentralization Perceived quality Customer relationship Discipline principles

CASE ANALYSIS

Dabbawala service a great example of remarkable service performance

Able to achieve high and extraordinary results from ordinary people

4 major pillars: the forces behind exceptional service delivery1. Organization2. Management3. Process 4. Culture

Organization

Transportation train system All employees as entrepreneurs High level of autonomy in each groups Management committee sets broad guidelines Flat, little hierarchy 1 leader supervise 25-30 members in a

group

Management

Daily meetings and customer interactions Tacit knowledge fills system gaps ( return

address) Same compensation for all members Self organized democracy Accountability Homogeneity among members

Process

Coding system Hub and spoke material flow Strict standards and flexibility Process checks built into system Buffers for variability

Culture

They don’t eat until all consumers have their lunch

Deep commitments (food is like medicine) Trust among team members religion

X Factor

Crystal Clear mission, never deviate Simplicity everywhere No technology Focus on consumer, not business

Lesson from Mumbai Dabbawala

Keep operational cost minimum Minimum capital investment Serve only the customer Complexities opposes compliance Do not be over dependent on technology Cooperation Commitment matters not qualifications

Thank you…