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PREFACE

• Story behind durable business success”


• Strong Values & Lasting success
• The constant that stood out was their commitment to living
the values they cherish. Anchored in value set, they lay down
milestones thru uninterrupted, intelligent practice of the
crafts they decide to master.

This story is about a 115 – 7r old successful business operation


now carried out by 5000 semi-literate ppl. Unfolded btw 4
character including me

In this search Anita develops an entirely new perspective on


management of change

Chap 1 - FOOD PREPARED WITH affection at hm provides


divine contentment

• More than 175,000 or 200,000 lunches get moved every day


by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 semi literate dabbawalas,
within a radious of 60 kms in just abt 3 hrs which amounts to
400000 transactions per day. 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.

Mumbai has out grown tis landscape. Its curr population is 10.3
mn. Fast Food joints n foothpath eateries hv sprung up all over.
Yet NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOZ SUPPLIERS ASSOC has
steadily grown.

Take Away – Curr Pract rise in eating outside 25 – 30 yrs out of


necessity / conveniene / fashion.
Opp – increased health consciousness n tpref for home cooked
food the opp to start newer cost effective delivery services.

Chap 2 – If u change just enuf u achieve embracive happiness

Error rate is 1 is 16 mn trasactions. Clocked in 6 sigma


performance (99.999999%) despite hvng no tech backup. TO is
INR 50 crs. EVERY DABAWLA is a SHAREHOLDER

We work as a team and are fully aware that we r dependent on


each other. Unless the team works smoothly, we cannot earn our
living. This is y we hv no strike record.

No dubawal is allowed to undercut or outsmart his colleague

Hierachy
Prez ->VP - > Mukadam (Group Leader) -> (25 – 30 per group)
each group a strategic bus unit

Governing Council – Prez, VP, Gen Sec, Treaurer, 9 Directors


Each dabawalas an entrepreneur

120 groups

Competitvie collaboration - > collaborate to get new clients.


Knwing the geography of operational areas, the shr info on clients

No single dabawala will succeed in achieve his target without the


cooperation of his grp n chain.

Team wk QUINTESSENCE OF OUR SUCCESS.

Cardinal princeiple is that the daba has to b delivered on time.


The customer is not only satisfied, he is happy. The business value
to d customer is efficient service at a bearable cost.

Each dabawala is responsible for BD n continuance as well as


customer satisfaction.

• Take Away
The vicious circle of who shld change first leades to an epidemic
of unhappiness;
• Opp
• Dabawals hv shown how to internalize change n serve the
other to create pervasive happiness

Chap 3 When u move beyond d fear of new entrants n


competition u feel free wth belief in god that he will provide
new custumers.

Niche of r own. Fast food chains, restaurants r not seen as


competitiors as they r not in te bus on preparing food, they only
deliver. Hv Monopoly. … extended delivery to schools.

Focus on their basic business of delivery This seeing differently is


the hallmark of creative artists and the best of leaders.

The harder u hold on to old customers, d quicker u find new ones

• Take Away
Bus leaders constantly lose focus in their line of bus ann get drwn
to unrelated line of bus – where they may hv not expertise
Most org hv Master – servant relationships. Eployees do not hv a
stake in the or survival n thus do not develop entrepreneurial skills
or passion

• Opp
In order to remain on firm ground, shrewd bus leders test funda
assumptions abt the nature of their bus. “Are they staying close to
our are or are we straying into territory whr we hv no vision,
knwlede, data, competency. Such thinking defines the boundaries
of their bus n makes them fearless abt competition.
When d org is set up on the principle tht everybody is a
shareholder, d passion, commitment n responsibilityf\4 dvlpng bus
in co-op with other grps increases

Chap 4 …Search what is durable in times of major change, it


provides the wildest of bus opp

Dabawals hv intuitively inderstood the economics of demand n


supply. Tht alternative avenues r available to customers for
satisfying their demands n thr is limited utility of their strengths n
skills

Main reason y v hv lasted is our organic growth. It is brought abt


by our strong cultural moorings.
• Take Away
A large no of bus leaders do not study d supply-demand mkt eco.
When massive waves of change hit the market thye crumple. They
fail to forecast changing scnearos n wht wld be durable inn such
situation

• Opp
Leaders with a vision are constanty looking out for trends, focused
on finding wht is durable in times of change. They act upon
strengthening their niche areas with constant innovation

5 Decentralise to empower n deliver with excellence. Ensure


that the cost of change is least to the customer.

Cost to the customer must not unnecessarily increase.


Why displace aavailable labour.

Act Local
• Take Away
• Opp

6 Savour the old bu enjoy the changing.

U shl gv mr mportance to: Axiom than Positional power, Service


rather that Selfishness, Subli,e Submission rather that Greed

• Take Away
In curr scenario d mortality or org is high becuz many times the
ppl thr donont change their ways. They continue past practicese
even whe the ground reality changes drasticaly.

• Opp
Org tht surviv this change r thor whr ppl are prepared to learn new
tech and skills to enhance their level of competence. They cherish
the old methods, but embrace new ways of dng things

7 sprinter@bottomofpyramid.com
U do all this to earn just enuf to subsist, and yet u are so happy in
what u do. Seeign u’r untiring effort humble me]
Shw expenses hv gn up by shwong cost of living index to hike
orices . middle class mindset. We hv to persuade our customer to
empatishe and tht is a skill our members posess in decent
mearsure.

Evry body doesn’t need to b in a mad rush. On the expressway thr


r 3 lanes – 1 for slow, d other for medium, n d 3rd for high speed
vehicles. Bus opp can be found in all lanes.

Not mkng the customer want mr in order to create business. 2nd –


their driver is not profile but subsistence plus a little margin

• Take Away
• Opp

8 The harder u hold on loyally to old customer with a


dependable delivery service, it provides lasting business
• Take Away
• Opp

9 lifelong devotiobal commitment to timely deliverables brings


Royal recognition n increase in bus
• Take Away
• Opp

10. ETHOS Is local but branding is global


• Take Away
• Opp

11. secret of any business is to mk its service segment humane


• Take Away
• Opp
12. I am eager to share the story with all
• Take Away
• Opp

All the hype of the 'Six Sigma' certification does not ensure the Dabbawalas will continue to stay
in business for ever. For all I know unless a swift, corrective, evolutionary action its death knell
for them. Here is why I feel so.

• The target market for the Dabbawalas was the government people, elderly and low or
middle earning group who believe in the family values but they no longer staff the
modern offices. People now earn almost 4 to 5 times the salary their parents do and have
office canteens to eat from. Canteen facilities are now part of the corporate policy and the
food costs as cheap as Rs. 15/- which makes it to Rs.450/- per month
• The upcoming companies work round the clock and difference in the timings, shifts, age
group of the employees, choice of the food, urge to get out of office for lunch and so on
drives the people to opt away from family food
• Increase in the disposable income, availability of options, need for freedom and choice
make people eat outside
• The hype of 'Six Sigma' certification and all the media coverage puts a lot of pressure on
the Dabbawalas which would result in high stress levels. I have another problem with the
'Six Sigma' certification. Forbes did it but what was the duration of the study, what is
defined as an error, how was it measured and so on
• Each Dabbawala earns about 12K per month which is very low and the tribe is dying. The
average age is increasing and the number of the new Dabbawalas joining the group is less.
The risk of unemployment is high and alternate jobs are more as the education levels and
IQ levels are high from the older generation

Then if everything goes against the Dabbawalas is there a way out, to survive. I think yes. Let’s see
what are the options.
• Increase the range of services from mere Dabbas to offices and schools to other areas like
money-to-home, dabbas-to-hospitals, insurance, etc.
• 2,00,000 customers in a city like Mumbai with over 2 crores population is very less. The
base can be easily raised to almost 10 lakh. This needs a lot of work in terms of
infrastructure, people, training, costs and so on
• Use more technology, resources, referrals to strengthen the existing base, promotional
activities to increase loyalty and thwarting competition
So I feel unless the Dabbawalas act and act fast, smart I can hear their coffin being made. What do
you say?

Six Sigma Certified Dabbawalla’s of Mumbai


Posted by Anshuman Harshwardhan on July 23, 2008

The Dabbawalla’s of Mumbai have been into existence since the 1890s. During the time
when India was still under the British rule. It was during those times that many people
from different communities came to work in Mumbai. The tiffin box delivery service was
started by Mahadeo Havaji Bacche. He recruited people from villages who were not able
to earn a good living. And thus started the legacy of The Dabbawalla’s of Mumbai.

The transport of lunch boxes from home to office. Thats all nothing much. Daily 4000-
5000 dabbawallas carry 1,75,000 – 2,00,000 tiffin boxes everyday .
Taking a look into how they work will give an insight into the whole system
i)Tiffins boxes are collected by dabbawalla from a specific are and then he takes them to
the nearest railway station.
ii)The Tiffins are sorted depending on destination and and then are put in luggage
carriers.
iii)Then the tiffin boxes travel in train and are taken to the railway station nearrest to their
destination.
iv)Then the tiffins are collected and then taken to their respectives offices.

Finally end of the journey and just in time to the offices for lunch. 12:30 pm is the time of
delivery.
The steps mentioned above are nothing but basic steps of logistics in raw form. The
biggest thing to be noted is that the whole system is manual and the average literacy of
the workers is 8th grade schooling.One thing to be noted about dabbawalla’s is the way
they make use of the resources. Local Railways networks in Mumbai is wonderful, it
provides great connectivity. And this resource is exploited by dabbawalla’s in the best
way.The tiffin boxes are collected from houses or caterers by dabbawallas and taken to
railway station.The dabbawallas either walk or use bicycle.The silver bicycle of
dabbawalla’s is famous in Mumbai. The batching of tiffin boxes according to their
destination is done according to the numbers, the proper loading into luggage carriers in
kind of crates and then they are sent in local trains with dabbawalla escorting the boxes.
The silver bicycles of the Mumbai dabbawalla's

The dabbawalla’s follow a just in time methodology. The tiffins boxes are delivered just
before lunch, neither too early neither too late. And thus the dabbawalla’s know that
“Error in Menace”. They are well aware that even a small mistake is capable of setting a
chain reaction and might lead to chaos in one of the routes.However improper batching
can lead to complete confusion. One mistake might even put them out of business.The
workers or the dabbawalla’s need to be reliable people, they are kept on a 6 month
probation period before they can become permanent workers.

Also the dabbawalla are given a day off, that is on sundays. The dabbawalla’s must be
extremely disciplined. Any alcohol or drug consumption during duty hours attracts heavy
fine . Apart from this they dabbawalla’s need to wear white Ghandhi Cap for
identification in the crowded stations. Not wearing a cap attracts a fine too. Thus we see
that the Mumbai’s dabbawalla’s are on of the best examples of a logistics supply chain.
Also the discipline among them is what makes the whole system impeccable in its
operation.

At the evenings the process is revesed, destinations become source and sources become
destination, the tiffin boxes travel back to the homes. This in the supply chain
management jargon is called Reverse Logistics. On large commercial scale this process is
used by bottling industries. Thus we see that the dabbawalla’s of Mumbai set one of the
best examples for an efficient supply chain. Working 6 days a week and throughout the
year delivering tiffin boxes just in time for a delicious luch, home made food in office !
A Mumbai dabbawalla, or lunch-box deliveryman, sorts a crate of tiffin boxes in
Mumbai, 15 November 2007. Using the Mumbai commuter rail network, lunchbox
carriers or "dabbawallas" pick up hot food from homes and deliver it to some 200,000
hungry office workers in time for lunch. The 5,000-strong army of "dabbawallas," a
century-old service, has long been studied by business schools around their world as a
model for their great time management and organisation skills. AFP PHOTO/ Sajjad
HUSSAIN (Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Like any other enterprise the dabbawalla’s too face major competition. Especially from
the various fast food joints spread all over Mumbai. But one thing that makes them
special is that no food joint can give people home made food. Thus they are ahead of the
food joints in the very core of their business process. The delivery cost per month is
around Rs 200-400, which is minimal. People can’t expect any low prices. Its the lowest
price depenind on various market forces and dabbawalla’s offer that price. No matter how
extreme the weather, especially due to the monsoon in Mumbai, the dabbawalla’s are
with the tiffin boxes right in time.Also the local dabbawalla’s know the people in sending
and receiveing end personally, so there is no question of breach of trust.

The dabbawalla’s have become high tech with time. They have booking on their website
mydabbawalla.com and also booking can be done by sending SMS.

The Six Sigma quality certification was established by the International Quality
Federation in 1986, to judge the quality standards of an organisation.The Six-sigma rating
means that they have a 99.99 % efficiency in delivering the lunch-boxes to the right
people. According to quality standards the dabbawalla’s are at par with various
companies like Motorola, Honeywell and GE. Apart from this the dabbawalla’s have
been called to various CII Conferences and leading institues like IIM’s to deliver speech.
Secretary of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust Gangaram
Talekar and M Medge, a tiffin carrier contractor – in a raw form both are essentially
dabbawalla’s have been called to speak at various leading institutes, FII Conferences,
WTC etc. The New York Times reported in 2007 that the 125 year old dabbawala
industry continues to grow at a rate of 5-10% per year. In its July 11, 2008 issue, The
Economist news magazine reported that dabbawallas are a model of Six Sigma
management, holding a delivery accuracy rate of “99.9999%.”
Many movies have been made by various filmmakers showing the taste of different
communities and how dabbawalla’s deliver home made lunch.In 1998, two Dutch
filmmakers, Jascha De Wilde and Chris Relleke made a documentary called
‘Dabbawallahs, Mumbai’s unique lunch service’.
In July 2001, The Christian Science Monitor, an international newspaper published from
Boston, Mass., USA, covered the Dabbawalas in an article called ‘Fastest Food: It’s Big
Mac vs. Bombay’s dabbawallahs’ .
In 2002, Jonathan Harley, a reporter, did a story on the Dabbawalas with the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In 2003, BBC also aired a program on the Dabbawalas,
which was part of a series on unique businesses of the world.
In 2003, Paul S. Goodman and Denise Rousseau, both faculty at the Graduate School of
Industrial Administration of Carnegie Mellon University, made their first full-length
documentary called ‘The Dabbawallas’.

I Fined the errors in the spelling and mark the correct option-

1) Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was Prem Minister of India


a) Prime b) Prim c) Praim d) non of the above

II Mark the correct grammar option from the sentences –

1) Yesterday is my birthday
a) was b) is c) will d) would

III Mark the correct Synonyms –

1) Thunder - ___________
a) Lightning b) Noise c) Snoring d) Shouting

IV Fill in the blanks-

1) Delhi is the ________ of India


a) District b) Territory c) Taluka d) None of the above

2) This is not the first time that the management has done some
________.
a) Tough talk b) Tough talking c) Firm talk d) firm talking

The function of tongue is to


a) Help in the act of swallowing b) Help in mixing saliva with the food c) Help in speaking d) All
the above

4) Sam asked me to keep his secret_____________


a)

V Reasoning –
1)

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