THE DABBAWALAS
5000 Dabbawalas delivering 130000 Dabbas Daily
124 years old association Semi-literate forceElected representatives
Based in Mumbai
Organized structure
Excellence without technology
Applauded worldwide
Service Record
Gen. Secretary
Treasurer
Director
ORGANIZATION
Operational committee
Gen. Secretary
Treasurer
Director
Charitable Trust
5000 members including635 supervisor
Recruitment
Friends and relatives of
existing members
Hired on probation of
6 months
Commitment Matters, not Qualification
Semi-literate people doing job without questions
MOTIVATIONEMPLOYMENT TO LOW-INCOME MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY
HIGH JOB SATISFACTION
EMOTIONAL UNITY
WORK IS WORSHIP
STICK TO TIME
Our ancestors fought in Shivaji’s army. Today we fight against time.
-Raghunath Medge, President Dabbawala Organization
How it all started
out 125 years back when a Parsi banker wanted to have home cooked food regularly in office and gave this responsibility to the first ever Dabbawala. Other people also liked the idea and the demand for Dabba delivery soared.
Identification of Opportunity by Mahadeo Havaji Bachche.
Conversion of Opportunity into Business.
Utilizing the Railway System for the Business.
Hiring Villagers and Tribal's (Dabbawalas).
INITIAL STEPS. . .
Word of Mouth for acquiring new Customers.
Diversity ( Caste, Tastes and Preferences).
CUSTOMERS
Recognised as delivering Six Sigma level of accuracy in DABBA delivery. That means only 1 mistake in 6 million chances.
HOW THEY DO IT !
UNIQUE CODING SYSTEM
Using color markers:
E :: Code for Dabbawala Street at residential stationVLP :: Residential Station Ville Parle3 :: Code for Destination station.Ex: :: Church gate9 :: Code for Dabbawala at Destination.Ex :: Express towers ( Building name)12 :: Floor no. in the building.
What goes in a dabba (the tiffin box ) ?
The foremost is love and caring of the housewives who make sure their loved ones get the healthy food from home.
And trust! That they have on dabbawala. If the Dabba system is going strong even after 125 years, we must thank the Mumbai housewives.
There is much more then lunch that goes in the dabba.
FOR CORPORATES
ADVERTISE WITH DABBAWALA
Website www.mumbaidabbawala.com Website attracts more than 1 million visitors
annually. Informative newsletter Send your leaflet, product description also
with the Dabba. Fees given for advertising are shared
equally among dabbawala and are used for their welfare.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Increasing complexities
Delay in pickup of a single Dabba may result in the delay in the delivery of thousands of dabbas.
The growing number of vehicles slows down the speed of the Dabbawala.
In the anxiety to ensure on-time delivery many Dabbawalas end up breaking traffic rules.
Honest to their commitment, Dabbawalas don’t stop their services even in extreme weather conditions.
Acknowledgements at International Levels.
Picture 1: Prince Charles Visit to Mumbai Dabbawala's.
Picture 2: Sir Richard Branson’s Visit.
Management learnings from Dabbawala
1. •Keep operational costs as low as possible.
2. •Keep capital investment bare minimum.
3. •Just serve your customer – nothing else.
4. •Customer is not the Raja but Maharaja.
5. •Complexity opposes compliance.
Contd…
6. •Never deviate from your core competency.
7. •Do not be over dependent on technology.
8 •Flat organization – fast decision making
9. •Co operation inside – competition outside
10. •Keep extras for fault tolerance
Contd…
11. •Know the implication of failure.
12. •Build your services around existing infrastructure.
13. •Abandon bad customers.
14. •Strike means suicide – labor means life.
15. •Penalize employees for non compliance.
Contd…
16. •Commitment matters, qualification doesn’t.
17. •Do not transfer your employees very often.
18. •Keep your employees emotionally united.
19. •High salary alone cannot retain employees.
20. •Be humble and do not boast your success.
Dabbawalas in Action.