GOA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

5 Conditions of 6-Sigma
applied to Mumbai
Dabbawallahs
Case Study

Submitted By –
Group No. – 3
Himanshu & Co.
Bhakti Khanwalkar (2010071)
Deenbandhu Mishra (2010075)
Himanshu Nassa (2010080)
Ketaki Joshi (2010088)
Ankur Raj (2010105)
Varun Chopra (2010115)
Define:
To satisfy this condition of 6-sigma, it is required to define what has to be achieved in
measurable terms. Dabbawallahs have achieved an almost zero defect system of delivery which
can be proved by the fact that they make 1 defect out of 15 million deliveries.

Measure:
To satisfy this condition of 6-sigma, it is required to measure key aspects of the current process
and collect relevant data.
In the case of Dabbawallahs, the following is measured:
 Time delay in delivery dabba at the destination, which is almost nil.
 No. of dabbas delivered at wrong address, which is also near to zero.

Analyze:
To satisfy this condition of 6-sigma, the importance is given to investigate and verify cause-and-
effect relationships. Defects in a dabba system can arise due to the following:
 Wrong coding on dabba.
 Manual error in reading the code.
 Trains are not on time.

Improve:
To satisfy this condition of 6-sigma, the focus is on improving the system. For Dabbawallahs, the
problem of wrong coding can be improved by improving the process.
As far as, manual error in reading the code is concerned, it can be improved by reducing the
load on Dabbawallahs or increasing the sorting points.

Control:
Finally the last condition, control can be exercised by:
By increasing the monitoring (by mukadams and fellow Dabbawallahs) at the sorting stations .

Mission of Dabbawallahs:
To serve their customers on time.