Supply Chain Management

The Dabbawala community works to deliver lunch boxes for about 2 lakh people at their work places
in time and then carry the empty lunch boxes back to the homes of the customers. Without even
knowing what Six Sigma is all about in the words of Dr. Pawan Agarwal, the president of The
Dabbawala association, they are known to commit hardly one mistake in sixteen million transactions
and have been consistently good at it for all the time of their operations. This credibility earned them a
six sigma designation by the Forbes magazine and ISO 9001 accreditation.
They take the lunch boxes from the different homes to the nearest railway station. From there, each of
the boxes, coded according to the station of origin, the collection and delivery point, and the
destination, are sorted out and taken to the next intermediary stations, where they are sorted out again
for area-wise distribution and delivery. So a single lunch pack could change hands three to four times
in the course of its daily journey, Yet they get delivered without a mistake since they are so well
coded," says Manish Tripathy, the Chief Information Officer
The dabbawalas have started using Web technology and SMS for orders, but for the most part this is a
fairly low-tech operation. It relies on trains and barefoot men. No computer chips. No social networks.
Just guys busting their humps and a reliable train service. A key takeaway for most organizations that
it portrays- Dont expect technology to solve your issues usually the issue has more to do with
process, execution and expectations than it does with bits and bytes.

Network design

When designing a supply chain network, the main objective is to maximize the firms profits while
meeting customer satisfaction expectations. Theoretically, network design involves two major phases
first, defining a supply chain strategy/design and second, defining specifics like regional
configurations. We will study these decisions in the context of the Dabbawallas of Mumbai.

Phase I
The broad supply chain design of the Dabbawallas consists of collection of dabbas from housewives
and delivery at the destination with a reverse process of empty dabbas back to the housewives.
The goal is -accuracy with 100% customer satisfaction.

Phase II
Specific decisions relating to structure are taken in this phase. Dabbawallas salient features are listed
below:

1. Network design structures

The network structure of dabbawallas is a combination of hub-hub transfer, hub and
spoke distribution and milkman route. Each Dabbawala is in-charge of collecting 30
lunch boxes. A point to be noted is that the Dabbawala waits for just 2 minutes for the
dabba. If the lunch box is not prepared the Dabbawala leaves without collecting the
dabba. A delay of more than 2 minutes means slack in the system which could
translate to delay in the entire process. Because of these stringent timings, even the
housewives make sure that the box is prepared within the stipulated time.
After collecting approximately 30 boxes, they are brought to the nearest railway
station for sorting and further transportation.
A team comprises of 8 dabbawalas, and more than one team operates out of a railway
station which serves as a collection point. 8 teams make a group, and 120 groups
work in the system. Entire operations of customer satisfaction, quality, complaints,
human resources management, discipline, scheduling, collection, accounts, revenue
and compensation are taken care by the groups. Operational execution is undertaken
by the teams.
Continuing the life cycle of the dabba, at the originating station, a team of dabbawalas
sorts the boxes according to their destinations. The sorting process is done through a
coding system which is explained below. Based on the codes, the dabbas are sorted
fro a origin to hub transfer by the local Bombay trains. At the destination station,
dabbas are received, resorted based on building, location and floor and then delivered
to the destinations by the assigned dabbawallas.
Once the delivery process is completed by 1pm, the dabbawallas relax in the nearby
parks to wait for the empty boxes. By 3:30 pm they return to the offices and collect

the empty dabbas for the return journey. A milkman route of exact reverse nature is
followed where the dabbas are assembled at the destination stations, resent to their
respective origin location, and transferred to the respectively hub or stations via hand
carts.

Image 3

The carts are unloaded at the station and returned to the individual households by the
same member who collected it from them in the morning.
The sorting and loading processes are integral to this system of six sigma. They are
done in public places, which are often congested. The designated carts are used for the
origin-hub transfer. The carts are then loaded in pre-determined compartments in the
trains.
2. Process Capability
The total time required from collection to delivery is about 3 hours. End to end travel
time-1:30 hours. Travel time to the nearest railway station at the origin 30minutes,
sorting and material handling etc.- 30 minutes and final dispatch- 30 minutes. All this
adds up to 3 hours. However, time available for end-to-end delivery is atleast 4 hours.
Thus, the process is inherently capable of meeting customer expectations and
specifications. Further, delivery of lunch boxes is consolidated at the floor level at the
consumer location. In a place like Bombay this saves significant time and energy, and
possible complications. The customer also participates in the last strep of the delivery
process. Also, it makes no difference to the customer as long as the delivery is made
before 1pm.2
3. Geography
Pickup from the households and last mile delivery at the required destination involves
accurate knowledge of shortest routes possible. Unaided by technology of Google
Maps or any other similar maps application; the Dabbawalas have mastered the
topography of the city of Mumbai. At the originating station, the area is dispersed
over a large area. At the destination it is concentrated on a smaller geographical area.
The traffic pattern is characterized by low volume spread over large area to high
volume spread over small area.3
More importantly, it is the geography of the city of Mumbai, which makes their
system more efficient. Mumbai being a longish city, has residential areas in the north
and offices in the south. Similar supply chain wont work in the case of a city like
Delhi-which is circular in its geography.
4. Transport
The use of railway trains makes this distribution link efficient as the high frequency of trains
makes it possible to maintain the strict time schedule. Transport decisions are covered in the
next section in detail.

5. Redundancy
Each Dabbawala is assigned a separate route in the network. Also, all other members
know the route assigned to each and every member so that in case one member is not
able to cover a route, another member can fill in.

6. Supplier Selection
The dabbawalas have started collaborating with small companies and canteens that
provide freshly prepared meals. At the same time, they have rebuffed any plans to
integrate backwardfor example, setting up their own kitchens for a simple reason
that they wont allow themselves to be distracted from their core mission of delivering
dabbas on time. Suppliers of homemade food are expected to abide by the process
standardization and motive of on time delivery. Those who are repeatedly late in
having their dabbas ready for pickup and dont respond to warnings are dropped.
7. Standardization of materials
The dabbas, for instance, are all roughly the same size and cylindrical shape. To
encourage customers to conform, containers incur an additional fee when, say, they
are so large that they require special handling. Unusual containers that interfere with
the delivery operation are simply not accepted. This uniformity allows the dabbas to
be packed quickly onto crates, which are also a standard size so that they can be
efficiently loaded onto trains.

Transportation

Dabbawalas use cycles or go by foot to every household. The waiting time to collect a lunch box is
maximum 2 minutes.
D Every Dabbawala has to assemble at his/her reported collection point at sharp 9.30 am.
From these collection points they assemble at the nearest railway station, which is the Aggregation
point.

Image 4

The next mode of transport is the trains where the carriers containing lunch boxes are transported to
the destination railway stations

1
2
3

D From every Destination station the dabbas are carried over carts, cycles and carriers to the destination
zones which are given a specific number
From these zones, the lunch boxes are carried to the offices or workplaces which reach by lunchtime
From here the reverse process of delivering the empty lunch boxes back to homes starts
All through the above process, there is no slack at any point of time. Traffic Jams, pedestrians, delays
in train and signals do not stop the functioning. The trademark white cap wore by these Dabbawalas
are known to everyone including the police who dont interfere in their process.

Each dabbawala is assigned upto 30 customers in a specific geographical location. He visits a

pre assigned and fixed route and carries the lunch boxes and brings his to the nearest railway
station, usually on his head. The frequency of sub urban trains (one per minute) facilitates the
origin- hub transferees arrive at destination railway station by 11:30 am. The subsequent
deliveries are completed before 1 p.m. There are dedicated compartments provided by
Mumbai local rail for handcartsand we see them making way for people wearing the white
Gandhi cap, the Dabbawaalas trademark. There is cooperation from external entities
extended for fulfillment of their promise of efficient deliveries.
There is a use judicious mix of transportation economics. At the collection point, it is a milk man
route structure. This, supported by a hub-hub transfer to handle large volumes reduces operational
cost. At the destination, it is hub-to-spoke to ensure response time and handle volume flexibility. The
rail infrastructure ensures flexibility and lower cost of operation. Flexible manpower deployment and

codification system guarantee appropriate response time, smooth flow of information and material
tracking in the system.

Image 5

Quality

A group has 10, 20, or 25 dabbawallas, depending on the density of customers in your area, and their
in-

charge is the group leader. The responsibility to keep the dabbawalas and the customers happy is on
the group leader. Despite the fact that he doesnt get even a rupee extra for the extra10% that he
works, he feels proud to be a group leader. For example, the group leader also takes care of the train
passes of the dabbawalas, to check whether they have expired or not; he reminds the dabbawalas in
case their passes are about to expire in the next 2-3 days and also buys the pass for the dabbawala if
he fails to do so himself in order to ensure that timely delivery doesnt suffer. They will never tell you
that the trains are late today, and even if Mumbai trains are late, the tiffins cant be late.
In 120 years, it has never happened that a dabbawala has failed to deliver. Its impossible. Probably, it
comes with a sense of ownership that they derive with a flat structure and equal profits scheme of
affairs prevalent in the Dabbawala.
It is one of a kind organization with Six Sigma designation and 99.99% rate of performance with no
use of modern
technology and 0% fuel reliance.
There are no errors
of lunch boxes despite changing
hands six times.
The customer satisfaction is
claimed at 100%.
In order to avoid
of lunch boxes, that
wrong tiffin, coding

any mistakes involving interchange

is, wrong customer getting the
system is followed.

The Coding system

can be explained as follows:

Image 6

BVI: Borivali, a suburb in Mumbai. This denotes the residential station

9 RC 14: Code for Dabbawalas at destination. This user code is different for each customer
RC: Raheja Chambers, name of a building or office
14: Floor Number
E: Code for Dabbawala at Destination station. For example, E is a code for Nariman Point,
Churchgate
Jain: Name/Surname of the customer

The dabbawalas make no mistake while delivering food to their customers. This happens because of
their colour coding system through which the dabbawalas assign various colors to tiffin boxes for
inventory management and to complete their orders. Green mark on a tiffin box denotes vegetarian
food, while non-vegetarians get a red-marked tiffin box. Apart from this, they also use a number
coding system to reach a particular area. At the assortment station, tiffins are marked with different
colors depending on their destination location, which further makes it easier to forward to the next
intermediary station in lots. Colours can further signify which line to board next for the intermediary
station. For example, a blue line on the code represents the central line of Bombay local.

The pricing structure is standard--no matter the distance where the delivery has to be made. This can
be attributed to the fact that the dabbawalas walk, cycle and use Mumbai's suburban trains, keeping
the delivery costs very tightly controlled. The delivery system revolves around strong teamwork and
strict time management which is depicted below. The meals are then delivered 99.9999 per cent of
the time to the right address.
Michael Porter's Five Forces Model
i. Threat of new entrants:
According to Porter, the threat new entrants is dangerous to any organisation as it can
take away the market share the organisation enjoys. Started in 1880, the experience
curve of the 125-year-old dabbawalla service serves as a huge entry barrier for potential
competitors. Besides, it would be difficult to replicate this supply chain network that uses
Mumbai's jam-packed local trains as its backbone.
ii. Current competition:
Porter's five forces theory states that strategy is determined by a unique combination of
activities that deliver a different value proposition than competitors or the same value
proposition in a better way.The dabbawallas do face competition from fast food joints as
well as office canteens. However, since neither of these serve home food, the
dabbawallas' core offering remains unchallenged. They have also tied up with many
catering services and hotels to cater to the vast number of office goers.
iii. Bargaining power of buyers:
The delivery rates of the dabbawallas are so nominal (about Rs 300 per month) that one
simply wouldn't bargain any further. Also, their current monopoly negates any scope of
bargaining on the part of their customers. Thus, we encounter a perfect win-win
combination for the customers as well as the dabbawallas.
iv. Bargaining power of sellers:
The dabbawallas use minimum infrastructure and practically no technology, hence they
are not dependent on s
uppliers. Since they are a service-oriented organisation, they are not dependent on
sellers to buy their product. Hence, sellers do not assume any prominence as would be
the case in a product-oriented company. The strategy map framework in Porter's theory
allows companies to identify and link together the critical internal processes and human,
information and organisation capital that deliver the value proposition differently or

better. Human capital is the greatest driving force in the dabbawalla community; as a
result, they are not dependent on suppliers or technology, thus negating the seller's
power in the equation.
v. Threat of a new substitute product or service:
As substitutes to home cooked food are not seen as a viable alternative in the Indian
scenario, the threat to the dabbawalla service is not an issue at least in the foreseeable
future. This gives them a leeway to probably expand their already existing network into
newer cities as demand increases in these places as well.