Final Dabbawala Chennai - Services Management - 1

A Feasibility Report on
Dabbawallas in Chennai
By:
Archit Mehrotra(09BM8012)
Balaji Murali(09BM8015)
Divyan Kavdia(09BM8017)
Piyush Padgil(09BM8037)
Rohit Khandelwal (09BM8042)
Ajeet Singh Kharra(09BM8062)
Ved Pal(09BM8077)
VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................3
DABBAWALLAS: AN INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................4
CHOICE OF CITY ....................................................................................................................4
CHENNAI: THE NEW DABBAWALLA‟S DESTINATION ...................................................... 5
VALUE PROPOSITION OF THE SERVICE ............................................................................. 5
CHALLENGES............................................................................................................................... 6
MAJOR COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL HUBS IN CHENNAI .................................... 6
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE...........................................................................................9
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES........................................................................................... 10
JOURNEY OF DABBAWALLA .......................................................................................... 10

CODING PROCESS............................................................................................................... 11
PRICING STRATEGY .......................................................................................................... 12
OTHER COSTS ........................................................................................................................... 13
SALARY ........................................................................................................................................ 13
REVENUE RECORDS ANALYSIS................................................................................... 13
HR ASPECTS .......................................................................................................................... 15
RECRUITMENT PROCESS ...................................................................................................... 15
PROS AND CONS OF THE PROCESS ................................................................................................... 15
TRAINING PROGRAM ............................................................................................................... 16
SERVICE RECOVERY TECHNIQUES .......................................................................... 16
TERMS AND CONDITIONS...................................................................................................... 16
OTHER FEASIBLE SERVICES................................................................................................ 17
ANALOGY BEHIND SELECTION OF DRESS............................................................ 17
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 18
APPENDIX 1: MAP OF SUBURBAN RAILWAY AND BUS NETWORK ........................... 18
APPENDIX 2: TRAIN TIMINGS................................................................................................ 19
APPENDIX 3: RAILWAYS FARE LIST .................................................................................... 22

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Dabbawaala‟s have long served as „Food line‟ of Mumbai. Can their model be
replicated elsewhere? Will such venture be successful and sustainable? We try to answer
these questions in this report. We have studied in detail if the dabbawaala can operate in
the city of Chennai. Chennai is a city which houses a broad range of industry and also
broad range of people. People with different gastronomical preferences. One canteen in a
company may not be able to serve to the needs of different people. Sure Dabbawaala‟s will
be a boon to the working class community in Chennai, But is this a feasible proposition?
For Dabbawaala‟s model to succeed there are few critical requisites:
1. Low cost Mass transit system

2. Demand for the service of dabbawaala‟s
3. A closely knit group of people.
Chennai has all of these, a good Local mass transit system, a huge demand for
Home cooked food served hot, and closely knit groups living in the slums of Chennai.
Through this report we have established that Chennai will be a very good place for the
dabbawaala‟s to expand and replicate the model followed in Mumbai.
The operation will begin in a phased manner. We would first start with highly dense
residential and commercial areas like avadi and ECR and then over a period of two or three
years expand our operations to cover the entire city of Chennai. The authors have also
attempted to develop a coding system for the dabbawaala‟s which will be useful in
collection, sorting and delivery of the tiffin boxes. The report also suggests pricing strategies
which will help in service penetration. Also the authors have explored peripheral business
that the dabbawaala‟s can do to augment their income.

DABBAWALLAS: AN INTRODUCTION
The Dabbawalla business was founded by Mahadeo Havaji Bacche who inaugurated
“The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust” with a handful of illiterate employees (100
men) and without any capital investment for lunch delivery. "Tiffin" was a nostalgic term
used by British for "light food". However, people call them Dabbawallas as they carry a
"Dabba" meaning "box". Almost 5000 Dabbawallas deliver and collect more than 200,000
lunch boxes very day, across the entire Mumbai (India). Nowadays, Indian businessmen are
the main customers for the Dabbawallas, and the service often includes cooking as well as
delivery.
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. 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.
CHOICE OF CITY
Out of the given Option between 6 cities for launching Dabbawalla
1. Hyderabad
2. Chennai
3. Bangalore
4. Delhi
5. Kolkata
6. Pune
We did a detailed study on the Transport Systems and Food Habits of all the cities
and came up with following analysis:

Chennai Hyderabad Kolkata
 Structured  The Intercity Railway  There is no Intercity
Suburban railways Network is sound but railway network, Bus
and Bus Network has limited access, network is sound, metro
 Availability of Food Bus network is sound rail connectivity is there
variety is a problem  Food availability is a but is limited
 Residential Hubs problem but not to a  Food is easily and
are concentrated very large extent cheaply available in
 Residential Hubs are almost all business
too spreaded areas
 The residential hubs are
concentrated.
Bangalore Pune Delhi
 There is no Intercity  There is no Intercity  Metro rail connectivity is
railway and bus railway and bus there but it is not so
network is not so network meant for Dabbawalas
smooth  Availability of Food  People are food lovers
 Availability of Food variety is a problem and loads of options are
variety is a problem available
 Residential Hubs are too
spreaded
CHENNAI: THE NEW DABBAWALLA’S DESTINATION
Chennai is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the fourth
most populous metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city in India. Located on
the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai city had a population of 4.34 million
in the 2001 census within the area administered by the Corporation of Chennai and an
extended Metropolitan Population of 6.5 million. The urban agglomeration of metropolitan
Chennai has an estimated population over 8.2 million people. The city is classified as
a Gamma+ World City.
Chennai's economy has a broad industrial base in the car, computer, technology,
hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is India's second largest
exporter of software, information technology (IT) and information-technology-enabled
services (ITES). A major chunk of India's car manufacturing industry is based in and
around the city. Chennai Zone contributes 39 per cent of the State's GDP. Chennai
accounts for 60 per cent of the country's automotive exports.
Demographics - Chennai also has a large migrant population, who come from other
parts of Tamil Nadu and the rest of the country. As of 2001, out of the 937,000 migrants
(21.57% of its population) in the city, 74.5% were from other parts of the state, 23.8% were
from rest of India and 1.7% were from outside the country.
VALUE PROPOSITION OF THE SERVICE

1. Tiffin Delivery – to Commercial Hubs
2. Delivery On Time

3. Other Potential Services – Tiffin Delivery for school children, For Advertising
Services, Provide Airtel Connections, Banking out of Lunch Box
CHALLENGES
1. Issue in Recruitment: There could be some cultural Issues in recruitment of
Dabbawalas.
2. There could be problem in getting support from state government for using railways
as transportation mode
3. Issue of Trust: There could be scepticism in customers mind about
others(Dabbawalas) carrying their food
MAJOR COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL HUBS IN CHENNAI

Major Industrial Areas
 Ambattur-Padi Industrial Estate

 Guindy Industrial Estate (also known as Thiru-Vi-Ka Industrial Estate)
 The Old Mahabalipuram Road (developing as a commercial corridor)
Major Business Hubs
 Chennai Trade Center

 Anna Salai
 Radhakrishnan Salai
 Nungambakkam
 Alwarpet
 Praksam Road
 M.G Road & Sardar Patel Road
 Central Chennai areas: like Egmore, George Town, Royapettah, Triplicane
Major Residential Areas
 Raja Annamalaipuram
 Mylapore
 Egmore
 Adyar and Besant Nagar
 Velachery
 Tiruvanmiyur
 Anna Nagar
 Chromepet

 Porur
 Vadalpalani
 Nanganallur
 Teynampet, Kotturpuram, Thyagaraya Nagar and Nungambakkam,
 Tambaram
 K.K.Nagar
 MadiPakkam
STAGE 1-PLANNED HUBS (SUBURBAN RAILWAY STATIONS)
In the 1st Phase of launch of sevice, the following sub-urban railway stations are
being considered for various hub and spokes of the distribution system.
Nearest Stations for Residential Hubs
 Tambaram
 Chromepet
 Guindy
 Egmore
 Velachery
 Adyar
 Besant Nagar
 Thirumayilai
 Thiruvanmiyur
Nearest Stations for Business Hubs
 Avadi
 Ambatur
 Villivakkam
 Loco Works
 Perambur
 Thiruvottiyour
 Nandiambakkam
 Gummidipundi
 Sullupetta
 Akkampet

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
President
General Deputy
Directors Treasurer
Secretary President
Salahkar
Mukkadam Mukkadam Mukkadam

(Team Lead) (Team Lead) ..... (Team Lead)
1 2 5
Dabbawala Dabbawala Dabbawala Dabbawala

....
1 2 3 8
The organization will be having a 3-tier structure with a Board of Directors, Team
Leads and Delivery Man. The basic operating unit is a team comprising of about 8 delivery
man headed by a team lead. A team lead is a person with enough experience as a delivery
man. A delivery man with about 6 years of experience and excellent service record will be
promoted as a team lead. The promotion will happen for the same service area in which the
team lead has been performing initially to allow him the time to settle in. After a couple of
years if need arises because of growth in, adding of new areas or need to accommodate rise
in rank of the junior delivery man to the post, the team lead can be transferred to another
area or another team in the same area. Five-Six teams usually servicing the same will form
a group and will appoint one group head from among the team leads of each team on a
rotating basis (2 years per person). The group head will report to the Directors of each zone
(4 zones).
The BOD will consist of 8 members which will be elected by the general body every
five years. The head of the BOD will be the president presiding over all the matters of the
Trust.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
 Dabbawala: Lowest level in the hierarchy, these are responsible for collecting and
delivering the Tiffins. The delivery men would be hired from low income slum
dwellers and trained for about 1 year before being awarded the permanent enclosure
in the trust.
 Mukkadam: Delivery man promoted to the rank after 6-7 years. They would be
responsible for sorting of the dabbas daily. Other than that they would be involved
in other administrative services like handling client payments, resolving disputes,
and apprentice training and acquiring new customers.
 Salahkar: A rotating head of about 4-5 teams from the same area responsible for
the group and acting as an interface between BOD and the Group.
 BOD: Responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the group. Monthly meetings
would be held to preside over the agenda. These meetings would look into the
problems being faced by the Group and strategy for future.
o Directors: Four Directors, each per zone who will be the direct contact
between Group head and BOD.
o Treasurer: Responsible for handling the finances of the trust.
o General Secretary: Presiding over the daily operations of the trust.
JOURNEY OF DABBAWALLA
7 am – 9 am •Begins the circuit.

•Collection of Dabbas from customer.
•In an hours time they collect 30 Dabbas
and pass them on to next leg of relay race.
•Next relay lap starts from local railway
station
9 am – 11.30 am •Postman sorting at station.

•Wooden trays loaded in the compartment.
•Special reserved compartment in trains.
•Compartments contain 700-800 tiffins
besides human.
•Loaded and sorted at platform for area
wise distribution
11.30 am – 12 pm •Dozens of Dabba wala’s pour out from

trains at destination platforms during this
peak hour.
•crates are unloaded outside the stations.
•Dabbas are sorted within 10 minutes on
the footpath or on platform.
•Pack their carts and boxes and Dashed off
to office districts
12 pm – 2 pm •Rush to the destination on 10 min sprint,

push handcarts or bicycle.

•Each one assigned one block of office.
•Rush with handcarts and deliver the
Dabba.
•Hour later the collection process starts
where dabbas are picked up from offices
where they had delivered.
2 pm – 6 pm Here after the whole process is

reversed.
•By 3 pm they again board the train for

their respective locations.
•Empty Dabba’s are returned to
households
CODING PROCESS
In order to conveniently handle large volume of dabba flow throughout the city, we have
come up with a unique yet simple mechanism of labeling the dabbas. The motivation
behind this technique is to ensure that the moderately skilled dabbawallas should not face
any difficulty in decoding it and also we have ensured that it has the level of detailing which
ascertains that in case of any attrition of dabbawallas, any new employee can easily fit into
the existing delivery system. This coding approach helps in getting rid of any drifting away
or errors in delivery.
We are presenting two cases of labeling which handles the two scenarios of intra-
route delivery and inter-route delivery. As we have already seen that the Suburban rail route
of Chennai is divided into four color routes viz. Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. This system is
distinctly separate from the Mumbai local system where the railway route is more or less
extended along a single stretch. So in coding we have taken care of the change of rail route.
For example let‟s take the case where a client (or say service
receiver) wants the dabba to be picked from VS Building, Floor 12.
This area lies close to the Station code 2R, implying that the area is
serviced by the Red line of suburban rail route. The destination for
the dabba is 5Y serviced by the Yellow line.
A denotes the dabbawallas code servicing the client pickup location
and B denotes the dabbawallas code for the delivery destination. JC is
the building where the dabba is to be delivered and 10 gives the floor
where to deliver it in JC building. 4R & 3Y stand for the station where
Daba Code 1
the source side sorting and destination side sorting will happen
respectively.

Dabba Code 2 is an example of intra-route delivery. For example
the dabba is to be delivered from VS 12 in vicinity of station 2R to
LM 9 near station code 5R. For this delivery, the source sorting
and destination sorting station will be the same, 4R in this case.
Daba Code 2
The intra-route delivery would not require our In-transit merge (located in Chennai central)
where all the necessary route changes will take place. Like, for Dabba Code 1, the route
change from red to yellow will take place at the In-transit merge.
PRICING STRATEGY
The Dabbawallas in Chennai should adopt ‘Variable Pricing Strategy’ in order to
serve the customers at various locations in Chennai.
The price has to be fixed between Rs. 150-300 per month. While deciding upon the
pricing strategies the following factors needs to be considered:
1. Consumer Density: The number of customers at a specific location will be a key

factor in deciding the prices. The concentration of customers at a specific location
facilitates the ease of pickup/delivery of tiffins by the dabbawalla, thus, leading to
lower/higher price of the service.
For example, the large number customers from the Chennai Central areas
like Egmore, Chetpet and Mambalam will lead to lower pricing in these areas. And,
the poorly developed residential hubs such as Palur and Villiambakkam will incur
high cost to the service because of the lower density of consumer population in
these areas and thus, the pricing will be on higher side.
2. Time and Cost of Travel: The prices are also dependent on the time and cost of
travel incurred in terms of delivery of the tiffins. The larger the distance or greater
the time of travel between the pick-up and delivery site, higher will the prices of
service and vice-versa.
For example, the close pick-up and delivery points between Anna Nagar West
(Residential hub) and Padi or Ambattur (Commercial hub) will be charged lower for
the service as compared to the delivery between Thambaram (Residential
hub)Akkampet or Sullerpetta (Commercial hub)

OTHER COSTS
The customers will have the provision of buying the exterior tiffin either from the
Dabbawallas at the cost of Rs. 250 approximately or they can also get their own tiffins
satisfying their particular needs.
SALARY
Salaries of dabbawallas are fixed between Rs. 4000-5000 and varies only in terms of
whether a particular dabbawalla is in the period of internship or a permanent one and do
not depend upon the number of customers seved by the dabbawalla.
For example, if one dabbawalla service 40 customers  and one another one service
just 20 customers, then both will receive equal salaries   because of two factors – time and
location. Here, the dabbawalla collecting 40 tiffins may have collected all  of them from one
area itself ( like Chetpet and Mambalam ) in 30 minutes. Whereas, the other   dabbawalla
collecting 20 tiffins may have had to travel long distance covering a large area   in order to
collect his 20 tiffins in over an hour‟s time. Thus, it would be unfair to him if the   first
dabbawala is paid a higher amount.
The travelling passes in train costs around Rs. 60-200 per passenger per month and
the bus passes will cost around Rs. 75-150 per passenger per month and these are to be
born by the dabbawallas themselves.
REVENUE RECORDS ANALYSIS

Assumptions:
1. The overall population of Chennai has been calculated for October 2010 by
extrapolating from a population of 4,353,000 on April 13th 2007 and a population of
4,616,639 on March 14th 2010.
2. The population of various residential hubs has been calculated on the basis of the
Area (sq km) of the location and the Population Density (persons per sq km).
3. The Working Male Population above 18 years in Chennai has been considered as
10% of Total Male Population calculated by using the Gender Ratio of 0.954.
Year 2010 2011
Total Population of Chennai 4,669,367 4,340,000
Population Density (persons per sq km) 26,532 24,682
Total Area (sq Km) 176

Population of Areas covered in PHASE 1
Population Density
Area (sq km)
(persons per sq km)
Tambaram
Chromepet
22 583704
Guindy
Egmore
Velachery
Adyar
Besant Nagar 11.4 302464.8
Thirumayilai
Thiruvanmiyur
Total Estimate Residential Population 33.4 886168.8
BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS
Working Male Population above 18 10% of the Male Popn. 84541
10% of the Targeted

Targeted Market Segment Popn. 8454
Assuming each
Dabbawala serves 30
Dabbawalas required customers 282
Other members required 1 per 10 dabbawalas 28
Total Dabawallas Rs.310
Avg. per month Salary (Rs.) 4000 and 7000 1323206.71
Avg. Revenue Generated per month Pricing at Rs. 150 per

(Rs.) customer 1268107.55
Profit/Loss (Rs.) -55099.16
Break-Even Price (Rs.) 5.22

HR ASPECTS
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The majority of the population in Chennai are Tamils. Tamil is the primary language
spoken in Chennai. English is widely spoken especially in business, education and white
collar professions. Sizeable Telugu and Malayalee communities live in the city.Chennai also
has a large migrant population, who come from other parts of Tamil Nadu and the rest of
the country. As of 2001, out of the 937,000 migrants (21.57% of its population) in the city,
74.5% were from other parts of the state, 23.8% were from rest of India and 1.7% were from
outside the country.
PROS AND CONS OF THE PROCESS

PROS:
1. The people belong to low income group and strive for a better life and a secure
source of livelihood. Including them in the trust would provide them both these
attributes and hence their loyalty towards the cause will increase so the attrition will
go down providing a stable business and reduced costs.
2. Once people from these sections join the organization they will attract others from
their neighbourhood to take up the profession. The trust factor works in these
sections and once a person is employed others will come forward. Also the increase
in life quality of an employee and fellow slum dweller would attract others.
3. The sense of community feeling would help in establishing strong loyalty,
commitment, dedication and empathy for the job. Hence inculcating a culture of
discipline.
4. Once the wave sets in this will provide a pool of hardworking, dedicated and loyal
workforce eager to join hands. This will reduce the cost of hiring and trustworthy
people would be hired.
5. Positive publicity in way of improving the lives of slum dwellers. The media coverage
would ensure more business.
CONS:
The people usually live in unhygienic conditions and carry the same impression
regarding their personal hygiene. Also many sections of workforce like Tamil Brahmins and
very orthodox in their thinking and would not want to avail service from such people. The
best way to insure against this will be to have an outreach program to prospective
customers alleviating their fears and concerns. The dabbawalas would be required to dress
in traditional kurta-lungi (yellow) which should be properly clean and the trademark
Gandhian cap. Fine would be imposed on any person found violating this practice.
1. The people from slums usually have drinking problems and are unwilling to put in
efforts having got used to the life. This may hinder their output. To take care of this

internal marketing would be done by educating the strata of improved life and
security of the fellow dwellers that have started serving as dabbawalas. The decision
would be projected as their way out of clutches of present life.
2. The slum people are sometime involved in socially harmful activities and may not be
trustworthy. The apprentice would be duly monitored for his conduct and then
included in the ranks of dabbawalas. Strong work ethos would be instilled to
decrease the chances of defaults.
TRAINING PROGRAM
The new recruit would go under an apprenticeship for 1 year on a fixed
remuneration basis. After the successful completion of the training the apprentice is
required to pay a price in ratio of 1:7 (8 being the number of dabbawalas serving a locality)
for operating rights in the locality. The money would be used as a security deposit to be
returned to the dabbawalas at their retirement (65 yrs). The money would be kept in a fixed
deposit that can be used by the dabbawalas to get loan against for some exigencies. Also
upon death the money would be given to the beneficiary. The dabbawalas henceforth would
have a permanent job and a monthly income revised from time to time.
SERVICE RECOVERY TECHNIQUES

1. Apology: An engraved culture of Dabbawallahs of apologising, in case of a service
delivery previous day. Also, explaining to the customer, the reason for delivery
failure.
2. Empathy: A sincere expression of feeling for the customer‟s plight and
understanding of his losses for the service failure of the previous day.
3. Providing Compensation: For a day of there is service failure for a particular day,
there will be no charge for that particular day of service.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A few terms and conditions which need to be included in Dabbawallahs terms and
conditions are as mentioned below:
By ordering Services you are agreeing to these Terms & Conditions.
1. Payment for a month‟s service need to be made in advance by 1 st day of availing the
service for a particular month.
2. Dabbawallahs will not be responsible for delivering the tiffin if it is not kept in front
of house on time.
3. There will be a fixed monthly charge irrespective of the number of times tiffin needs
to be delivered per month. The charge will vary depending on the location and
society of the customer.
4. Dabbawallahs will provide service for 6 days a week from Mondays to Saturdays.

5. In case of loss of tiffin by Dabbawallahs, Dabbawallahs will take responsibility and
provide customers with new tiffin.
OTHER FEASIBLE SERVICES

Dabbawallahs can also provide services of delivery of tiffins for school children. This
could be taken for more efficient utilization of Dabbawallahs time as time of delivery of
tiffins for office people will be different for time of delivering of tiffins for school children.
The way in which we look to implement this is explained as follows:
Each Dabbawallah has his own territory for which he is responsible. For his
territory, Dabbawallah is expected to collect tiffins from homes which can then be
distributed using the existing hub and spoke model or can be distributed using other
modes of local distribution like buses as for most of the students, their schools are expected
to be in close vicinity of their homes.
The same setup could also be used for nearby businessmen and shopkeepers for
whom tiffin can be collected and supplied at their shops.
ANALOGY BEHIND SELECTION OF DRESS

While launching dabbawallas in Chennai, we
have zeroed down to use color yellow as the dabbawallas
uniform & accessories. This choice is commemorated by
the fact that Yellow is a symbol of optimism,
enlightenment, and happiness. Yellow is psychologically
the happiest color in the color spectrum. Shades of
yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will
advance from surrounding colors and instill optimism
and energy, as well as spark creative thoughts. The
association with yellow will impregnate the feeling of
belongingness, uniqueness, joy, grandness & they will
instill pride which will help in enhancing performance of A gratified Chennai dabbawalla, outside suburban
dabbawallas. railway station.

APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: MAP OF SUBURBAN RAILWAY AND BUS NETWORK

APPENDIX 2: TRAIN TIMINGS
S.No. Starting From Destination to Departure Time
01 Chennai Central Arakkonam 19.40 hrs
02 Chennai Central Arakonam 06.05 hrs
13 Chennai Central Arakonam (Fast) 16.25 hrs
15 Chennai Central Avadi 00.20 hrs
30 Chennai Central Ennore 6.00 hrs
31 Chennai Central Gummidipoondi 11.35 hrs

56 Chennai Central Kadamathur 12.10 hrs
57 Chennai Central Pattabiram M.S. 06.35 hrs
67 Chennai Central Pattbiram 20.30 hrs
69 Chennai Central Ponneri 14. 35 hrs
70 Chennai Central Solurpettaai 13.10 hrs
71 Chennai Central Sullurpettai 8.35 hrs
72 Chennai Central Sulurpettai 4.25 hrs

75 Chennai Central Tiruniravur 07.05 hrs
76 Chennai Central Tirutani 04.00 hrs
79 Chennai Central Tirutani 14.20hrs
84 Chennai Central Tirutani Fast 19.10 hrs
85 Chennai Central Tiruvalllur 06.50 hrs
86 Chennai Central Tiruvallur 07.40 hrs
102 Chennai Central Tiruvallur 0.3.40 hrs

APPENDIX 3: RAILWAYS FARE LIST

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A Feasibility Report on

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

JOURNEY OF DABBAWALLA .......................................................................................... 10

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

For Dabbawaala‟s model to succeed there are few critical requisites:

1. Low cost Mass transit system

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

CHENNAI: THE NEW DABBAWALLA’S DESTINATION

VALUE PROPOSITION OF THE SERVICE

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

MAJOR COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL HUBS IN CHENNAI

 Ambattur-Padi Industrial Estate

Major Business Hubs

 Chennai Trade Center

Major Residential Areas

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

STAGE 1-PLANNED HUBS (SUBURBAN RAILWAY STATIONS)

Nearest Stations for Residential Hubs

Nearest Stations for Business Hubs

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

Mukkadam Mukkadam Mukkadam

Dabbawala Dabbawala Dabbawala Dabbawala

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

7 am – 9 am •Begins the circuit.

9 am – 11.30 am •Postman sorting at station.

11.30 am – 12 pm •Dozens of Dabba wala’s pour out from

12 pm – 2 pm •Rush to the destination on 10 min sprint,

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

2 pm – 6 pm Here after the whole process is

•By 3 pm they again board the train for

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

1. Consumer Density: The number of customers at a specific location will be a key

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

REVENUE RECORDS ANALYSIS

Year 2010 2011

Total Population of Chennai 4,669,367 4,340,000

Population Density (persons per sq km) 26,532 24,682

Total Area (sq Km) 176

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

Besant Nagar 11.4 302464.8

Total Estimate Residential Population 33.4 886168.8

Working Male Population above 18 10% of the Male Popn. 84541

10% of the Targeted

Other members required 1 per 10 dabbawalas 28

Total Dabawallas Rs.310

Avg. per month Salary (Rs.) 4000 and 7000 1323206.71

Avg. Revenue Generated per month Pricing at Rs. 150 per

Profit/Loss (Rs.) -55099.16

Break-Even Price (Rs.) 5.22

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

PROS AND CONS OF THE PROCESS

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

SERVICE RECOVERY TECHNIQUES

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

OTHER FEASIBLE SERVICES

ANALOGY BEHIND SELECTION OF DRESS

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

APPENDIX 1: MAP OF SUBURBAN RAILWAY AND BUS NETWORK

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, IIT KHARAGPUR

01 Chennai Central Arakkonam 19.40 hrs