Introduction and

Research Methodology

Dabbawala at the age of 75 Supply chain network connecting

and still Active Mumbai end-to-end

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Pg. No.

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 8

3 IMPORTANCE AND NEED OF THE STUDY 10

4 OBJECTIVES OFTHE STUDY 12

5 HYPOTHESIS 12

6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 13

7 JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOICE OF THE TOPIC 15

8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 17

 INTRODUCTION AND
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. 1 INTRODUCTION

Dabbawala

Dabbawala is a person carrying tiffin boxes from home to work

place of the client. The carriers of tiffin boxes who daily delivers
lunch boxes to the lakhs of office goers at their office places are
unique in the Mumbai city. There are around 5000 dabbawalas
who distribute nearly 2 lakhs tiffin boxes in Mumbai per day making
use of 70 to 80 kilometers of the city's transport services to and fro.
They provide the services to most of the destinations of Mumbai local
railway which includes western line, central line and harbour line.

The system of dabbawalas involves pickup of tiffin from the

customer's residence in the morning, transporting it by train to the
destination station, despatching it to the respective offices and again
reversing the entire process with sharp precision of time and accuracy.
Every day operations are time specific and are of standard. The entire
system is depending on coding system which is an ingenious creation.

'Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust' was

registered in 1956 for dabbawalas, though it started its services
in 1890 during the British rule. There after in 1967, 'Mumbai
Tiffin Box Carriers Association' was registered. This association
functions as a union, as a trust and also as a cooperative bank.
Their main aim is to ensure smooth functioning of all dabbawalas

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

and acts as a platform to voice their grievances and to sort out

their differences. The association conducts its meeting on 15th of
every month where the problems of dabbawalas are sorted out.
The association collects membership fee of R s . 2 5 / - from its
members. Majority dabbawalas are from neighbouring towns and
villages of western Maharashtra including J u n n e r , Ambegaon,
Khed, Maval, Mulshi, Akole, Ahmed Nagar, Sangamner, Bhor etc.
Most of them are illiterate or semi literate.

The organization works on " Work is Worship " philosophy.

The primary task of the dabbawalas is timely delivery of tiffin
boxes. It is the basic need of every individual to have food at a
particular time. The dabbawalas have never gone on strike since
the day they entered into this service and as a result of this, the
c u s t o m e r s who are b u s i n e s s m e n , office goers, workers or
s t u d e n t s popularly quote dabbawalas as the fuel suppliers and
it is a proverb said by them all in Mumbai, " If local train is the
lifeline of Mumbai city t h e n the dabbawala is the foodline

The organization h a s marvelled everyone by its efficiency.

They make one error in 16 million transactions. This remarkable
efficiency is being recognised by the world famous 'Forbes Global
magazine' by selecting them as a colossal example of ' Six
Sigma' supply chain in India. The b u s i n e s s h a s survived entirely
due to its efficiency and timely services. Though it follows a
complicated network system, it is exercised with high degree of
efficiency. The tiffin reaches to the right person, at the right time
and in proper m a n n e r .

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

Logistics

Almost any level of logistical service can be achieved only if the

firm is committed to provide the necessary resources. In today's
operating environment, the limiting factor is finance, not a
technology. Logistical service is balance with service priority
and cost.

Basic logical service is measured in terms of :

1) Availability 2) Operating performance and

3) Service reliability.

A v a i l a b i l i t y m e a n s s e r v i c e s to c u s t o m e r s a n d t h e i r
requirements are available consistently, e.g. Dabbawalas never goes
on strike, they provide services to customers consistently.

Operational performance involves delivery speed and

consistency, e.g. Dabbawalas deliver tiffins in time. Neither they
miss delivery of any tiffin nor they delay their job.

Service reliability involves the quality attributes of logistics.

The key to quality is 'accurate measurement of availability' and
'operational performance'. It is possible to determine through
c o m p r e h e n s i v e p e r f o r m a n c e m e a s u r e m e n t w h e t h e r overall
logistical operations are achieving desired service goals or not, e.g.
Dabbawalas provide their services to the maximum satisfaction of

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

their customers. As they visit number of houses to collect tiffins,

house wives of these houses, who handover tiffin boxes to the
dabbawala must be ensured that the tiffin will reach their husbands
at right time and right place. Similarly, the customers i.e. the
recipient of tiffin must have full faith on dabbawala that he will
deliver the tiffin at his work place right at lunch time. This is service
reliability.

"Logistical quality does not come easy, it's the product of careful
planning supported by training, comprehensive measurement, and
continuous improvements"1

The Dabbawala's Industry intend to develop and implement

that logistical competency which will satisfy customer's expectations
at an economic cost. So a well-designed logistical effort may get
high degree of customer response and customer satisfaction.

"The three words 'Better, Faster, Cheaper' summarized the

ways in which logistics management can provide value for
customers. The criterion for a good logistics vision statement is that
it should provide the road map for how these three goals are to be
achieved"2

Net work designing is a primary responsibility of logistical

m a n a g e m e n t which facilitates provision of b e s t services.
Determining how many of each type of facilities are needed, their
geographic locations and work to be performed at each level is
the significant part of a network design. The network of facilities

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

forms a s t r u c t u r e , t h r o u g h which logistical operations are

performed. Thus, the network incorporates information and
transportation capabilities. The design of network must consider
geographical v a r i a t i o n s . Here a s far a s M u m b a i region is
concerned, Dabbawalas are quite able to give the best services
due to typical geographical location and an efficient transport
network of Mumbai.

Supply Chain Management

"Perhaps, 'the greatest implication' for the responsive

organization of the challenges we have described, is the priority
which must be attached to integration. This integration should not
be just within the organization, but the integration should more
upstream with suppliers and downstream with distributors and
customers.. This integration is 'logistical' rather than 'vertical'; in
other words we do not imply ownership or domination of the supply
chain but rather there is a greater emphasis on the linking of the
organization through information"3

Each dabbawala is a small e n t r e p r e n e u r and there is no

ownership of supply chain. In the process of delivering tiffin, the
tiffin is transferred through three to four dabbawalas who may
not be the direct beneficiaries of charges paid for that tiffin . The
structure of supply chain is based on cooperative system where
one dabbawala is transferring the tiffin of another dabbawala in
lieu of his tiffin being carried by somebody else in the network.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

Services of dabbawala are truly logistics services fitting

perfectly with the definition of logistics. Dabbawala carry goods
(tiffins) from point of origin (customers house) to the point of
consumption (workplace of the customer) for the purpose of
conforming to c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e m e n t . It involves planning,
implementing and controlling the efficient flow.

Supply Chain of Dabbawala h a s to perform the two way

operations. Tiffin boxes containing fresh food are picked up from
customer's house and delivered to customer's workplace. And then
empty tiffin boxes have to be returned back to customer's home by
the evening

Mumbai dabbawalas are practising same logistics for many

years. Key factors of effective logistics are movement of product,
movement of information, timely service, cost and integration.

Functioning of supply chain of dabbawala resembles the baton

relay in relay race. During the journey from home to office and
back to home, tiffin is transferred from one dabbawala to another.

Every dabbawala has a specific duty to perform. It can be

divided into different parts as given below

1. Collecting tiffin from the house of the customer of a

particular local area and carry them to the nearby railway
station or the hub where sorting takes place. These can
be around 25 to 35 tiffins. Dabbawalas are coded with

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

different alphabets, e.g. in Vile Parle, dabbawala "D"

collects tiffin from Hanuman Nagar of Vile Parle

2. At station, sorting of the tiffins takes place. From here,

every d a b b a w a l a h a s a predefined duty to r e a c h
particular destination. While sorting tiffins, he puts the
tiffins brought by him in the wooden crates which have
to be carried to t h a t particular station, e.g. tiffins
belonging to Grant Road station will be placed in the crate
for Grant Road station. Each dabbawala has to carry 35
to 40 tiffins. If more than 40 tiffins are there for one
destination, additional dabbawala will be assigned with
that duty. From here every dabbawala take charge of
the tiffins for the destination assigned to him, e.g. Vile
Parle dabbawala "D" carries the tiffins belonging to
Churchgate station.

3. On the way towards destination station, exchange of

tiffins takes place on stations enroute. Tiffins belonging
to that station are unloaded and tiffins belonging to
destination stations are loaded. If n u m b e r of tiffins for
a particular station are more t h a n forty, an additional
dabbawala joins from that station for the destination
station.

4. At destination station the tiffins are unloaded from the

train and again sorting takes place according to areas of
destination station. Now from here again dabbawala have
duty to distribute the tiffins to the offices in the local

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

area assigned to him, e.g. Vile Parle dabbawala "D" takes

charge of tiffins belonging to Nariman Point area.

5. Dabbawala who had distributed the tiffins in the office

will collect it back after one or one and half hour, and
then the return journey starts.

The return journey is the exact reversal of the procedure

followed for the forward journey.

Forward journey has to be more time specific as customer

needs his tiffin right at his lunch time, neither too early nor too
late. J u s t in time delivery is demanded by customer every day from
dabbawala. Dabbawala manages logistics lead time so perfectly that
customer gets his food fresh as well as at perfect lunch time.

Tiffins are carried by using low cost transport methods, such

as bicycle, hand-cart and the local train. This reduces the cost
involved in logistics providing inexpensive services.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Problem for the present research study is defined as follows:

" A study of logistics & supply chain management of

Dabbawalas in Mumbai "

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

1.2.1. DEFINITIONS / EXPLANATIONS

Dabbawala : Person carrying tiffin boxes from home to work

place of the client is called Dabbawala in Marathi language.

Dabba : Cylindrical metal containers used to carry food

Logistics : Definition: "Design and operation of the physical,

managerial and informational systems needed to allow goods to
overcome time and space (from the producer to the consumer)"4

"Logistics is the process of strategically managing the procurement,

movement and storage of materials, parts and finished inventory
(and the related information flows) through the organization and
its marketing channels in such a way that current and future
profitability are maximized the cost effective fulfillment of orders"5

L o g i s t i c s m a n a g e m e n t is t h e p r o c e s s of p l a n n i n g ,
implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow and
storage of goods, services, and related information from point
of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of
conforming to customer requirement.

Supply chain management; Definition: "Design and operation

of the physical, managerial and informational and financial
systems needed to transfer goods and services from vendor to
customer (point of production to point of consumption) in an
effective and efficient manner. "6

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

Supply chain management is the integration of various

b u s i n e s s process from original suppliers to end user, that
provides products, services and information which add
value for customers.

Services : Services are the activities, benefits or satisfaction

which are offered for sale or are provided in connection
with the sale of goods.

1.3 IMPORTANCE AND NEED OF THE STUDY

In this era of globalization, the service industries also have

their immense importance in the market. Dabbawalas proved
themselves as the best for their services to the customers and
carrying monthly transactions of approximately Rs.20 lakhs,
which generates income for their poor and middle class families.

Employment is an acute problem in our country where

dabbawala gives employment opportunities to those who are
illiterate or semi literate. They are also having efficient network
system for distribution of dabbas. As this .system follows logistic
and supply chain management for more than a period of century,
it proves to be the most stable system. Study of this system of
management can be utlilised in other service sectors to improve
their efficiency and stability.

In developing countries like India, shortage of funds is a

major stumbling block in the establishment of service industry.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

An efficient logistical model will help in reducing the cost.

Dabbawalas are functioning with available low cost transport
system and are yet providing efficient service to customer. Study
of their system may help in developing such affordable model
for logistics.

Supply chain of dabbawala runs on cooperative basis. Success

story of this supply chain management will help other cooperative
systems to improve their efficiency

For so many years the organization h a s been functioning

without any aid of modern technology, with semi literate and
illiterate workers, without any aid from government. Yet the
Mumbai dabbawalas are now having international figure for
their efficiency by achieving the level of Six Sigma . Being the
b e s t in logistics, it is an example for o t h e r supply chain
management systems.

The r e s e a r c h e r attempted to study the m a n a g e m e n t of

dabbawalas in Mumbai so that the same system can be operated
in other major cities like Delhi, Chennai, Kolkatta where more
employment opportunities can be generated.

The researcher aims to study the existing problems (if any)

faced by dabbawalas and suggest a better marketing strategy to
improve awareness about them among the people of the whole
country.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The researcher has set following objectives of his proposed

research study :-

(1) To study the organizational structure and organizational

behaviour of the dabbawalas in Mumbai.

(2) To study the logistics and supply chain management of

Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust.

(3) To study the problems, if any, of the dabbawalas in their

working system.

(4) To study the prospects of the tiffin carrier service industry.

1.5 HYPOTHESIS

The researcher proposed to test following statements of

hypothesis

(1) Because of geographical structure of Mumbai, the best

availability of local t r a i n s a n d o t h e r favorable
circumstances dabbawalas are able to work in Mumbai
Metro City only.

(2) Dabbawalas are reluctant to use modern technology and

organizational s e t u p for the development of their
business.

(3) I n c o m e of d a b b a w a l a is i n d e p e n d e n t of age or
educational qualification.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The type of research is descriptive analysis, that can be

termed as exploratory research. The researcher collected and
analysed primary as well as secondary data to study the problems
as detailed below.

1.6.1 Primary data :

Primary data collected through questionnaires and interviews

of d a b b a w a l a s a n d office b e a r e r s of t h e d a b b a w a l a s
organization. Interviews of tiffin box receivers (servants who
are working in different offices and who are clients of
dabbawalas) also conducted. Separate questionnaire are
p r e p a r e d for dabbawalas, c u s t o m e r s and executives of
dabbawala organization. Well designed questionnaires and
interview schedules were used for the purpose.

Sample : There are around 5000 dabbawalas in Mumbai. Out of

this, 5%(250 dabbawalas) are selected as a sample on random
basis for detailed investigation. Whereas, there are near about 2
lakhs clients of dabbawalas. Out of these a sample of 100 is
selected on purposive and convenience random basis for inquiry
into customer satisfaction from the service.

In addition, data was collected through interviews of the office

bearers of the dabbawala's association i.e. Nutan Mumbai Tiffin
Box Suppliers Charity Trust. Table-1.1 displays the sample
selection for study.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

Table-1.1 : Sample selection for survey

Sr. No. Sample Category Number

selected

1. Dabbawalas 250
2. Customer of dabbawalas 100
3. Executives of dabbawala's association 05

Total 355

1.6.2. Secondary data :

Secondary data was collected through various published /

unpublished documents, interviews, articles, news, reports,
and web sites. Case studies prepared by management
students was also useful source of secondary data. Many
articles published in Indian magazines as well as overseas
magazines were used as reference material.

1.6.3. Analysis of data :

Collected information was classified, analysed and presented

in simple form. Classified information is presented first in
tabular form and then in diagrams, such as pie diagram and
bar diagram.

Simple statistical techniques such as Arithmetic mean and

Standard deviation are used for comparative study.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

For analysis and interpretation, ANOVA (Analysis of

Variance) table followed by F-test. F-Test is used to
compare significant difference in average monthly income
for various levels of attributes/variables.

C h i - s q u a r e t e s t is u s e d to verify e x i s t a n c e any
association between monthly income and corresponding
attributes.

1.7 JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOICE OF THE TOPIC

Logistics and supply chain management is a very important

aspect for every organization which is concerned with needs to
transfer of goods and services from vendor to customer. In this
era of globalisation, every organization is facing competition and
is affected to a great extent with modern marketing system. Every
company is trying to introduce an innovative marketing system
and entering into competition. At the same time, they spread
their activities over larger area. It becomes very essential to
manage and synchronize all these activities efficiently, for which
a well established network is must. In this competitive world, it
is very difficult to maintain cost at minimum, but some how
organizations are managing it. Thus, the cost of all competitors
are almost standardized and are at par. In order to increase profit
margin, there is very little scope for cost reduction. On the other
hand, an effective distribution system can effectively reduce
distribution overhead and add substantially to profit margin. Also
it can manage j u s t in time delivery which helps in gaining more

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

customer satisfaction. All these can be achieved with efficient

logistic and supply chain management.

Mumbai Dabbawala organization is one of the largest networking

system, where lakhs of transactions takes place everyday and that
too, without any mistake. They provide their services to the customers
and deliver their dabbas in the hands of customer just in time, that is
exactly at their lunch time. Dabbawalas manage to perform lakhs of
transactions every day without any mistake and at minimum possible
expenses. Thus it adds to the profit of the organization.

Customer satisfaction is one of the very important aspects for

every organization to create goodwill. It is possible only by providing
best services to the customer. Dabbawalas have maintained great
reputation by providing the best services to the customer "Just in
time", that is neither late nor before time. As they are providing food ,
it is very important for them to provide it fresh to their customer.
Because of their efficient network of supply chain all over the city,
they are able to provide the best services.

It is of great pride and glory to note that Mumbai dabbawala is

the only Indian organization to achieve 'Six Sigma'. Dabbawalas are
performing their task with perfection as they handle lakhs of
transaction every day without any mistake. A tiffin is neither exchanged
nor misplaced any time and every time it reaches to its respective
owner. In depth study of their system may reveal their secrets of
perfection.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

In Mumbai dabbawala organization, most of the dabbawalas

are illiterate. It m e a n s they got employment in spite of being
illiterate. The are also earning respectable amount. Due to this
they have good feelings and belongings towards their job. They
are not employees of the organization, but they are shareholders.
Because of this, they have very strong management and working
with full efficiency. They never had any disputes so they are quite
away from court or police station. They have their own committee
which resolves their all disputes, if any. They have their own
rules and regulations as well as disciplinary rules to maintain
their organization so that everybody works with discipline.

Such a great network d a b b a w a l a s are having in their

organization which gives b e s t of the b e s t services to their
customers and it is very important to see whether this system
could be applied in any other organization to make successful
supply chain system.

So, it is very important to know that in India, we have such a

great potential organization which is known to the people all over
the world. So the researcher selected this topic for detail study.

1.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The dabbawalas are unique to the Mumbai. Large number

of working class people, special topography of Mumbai, efficient
local transport system, and the habits of the people of Mumbai
to prefer home cooked food. All these points contributed to a

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

great extent for developing dabbawala system in Mumbai. Most

of the dabbawalas are illiterate and j u s t following the path set
by their predecessors.

While collecting data from dabbawala, researcher had to

explain certain questions to get correct answer. Many times
dabbawala gave approximate answer e.g.. Income or Expenses
u n d e r various h e a d s . Most of the Dabbawala u n d e r s t a n d and
speak Marathi language and hence researcher had translated
the questionnaire in Marathi.

Dabbawala's organization neither maintain any document

nor they keep any records of b u s i n e s s transactions and hence
researcher h a s to rely on the oral information collected from
dabbawala and their executive. Apart from Newspaper articles,
hardly any literature h a s been publish on dabbawala.

The network of dabbawalas is the network of entrepreneurs

where all overhead are shared along with the accountability.
Functionality of such network may not be replicated completely
in the s t r u c t u r e of paid employees.

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 Introduction and Research Methodology

References

1. Donald J. Bowersox and David J. Closs :(2000): Logistical Management

The Integrated Supply Chain Process:Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing
Company Limited : New Delhi: P10

2. Martin Christopher :(2004):Logistics and Supply Chain Management,

Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service :Pearson Education
(Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Indian Branch : New Delhi : P216

3. Martin Christopher :(2004):Logistics and Supply Chain Management,

Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service : Pearson Education
(Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Indian Branch : New Delhi :P231

4. G. Raghuram and N Rangaraj:(Reprint 2001): Logistic and Supply Chain

Management : Macmillan India Ltd : New Delhi : P3

5. Martin Christopher :(2004)-.Logistics and Supply Chain Management,

Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service : Pearson Education
(Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Indian Branch : New Delhi :P4

6. G. Raghuram and N Rangaraj: (Reprint 2001): Logistic and Supply Chain

Management : Macmillan India Ltd : New Delhi : P17

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