Mumbai Dabbawalahs

Mumbai Financial capital of India Significant economic contribution to India by way of Income tax,

customs and excise duty collections Over 15 million people from different ethnic backgrounds Issues with respect to transportation, parking space, civil amenities

and Infrastructure Local rail lines lifeline to the city Western and Central Railways cater to over 6 mn daily

commuters.

Dabbawalahs Operating since India was under British rule 1890s Dabbawala one who carries lunch boxes Traditionally, Indians prefered home cooked food in

the absence of canteens or fast-food centres then. Mr. Mahadeo took this as an opportunity to employ

hundred uneducated and unemployed people called Bombay Dabbawalas Developed lunch-box delivery services with one

of the most amazing distribution centres

Growth No.of Dabbawalas kept growing significantly Year 2000 2,00,000 lunch boxes a day 4,00,000 manual transactions each day 36 crore total turnover per annum Most efficient supply network with around 5000 dabbawalas FORBES global magazine ranked its operational excellence at a six-

sigma level with an accuracy rating of 99.999999 Highest service levels over the years

Organizational StructurePresident Vice president General Secretary Treasure Director (9) Mukadaam 5000 Dabbawalahs

Working Style Workers treated as shareholders Team work and coordination are important Three Golden rules for discipline White cap during work hours No alcohol during duty Carry their own identity card

Special railway compartments during 10:00 AM to 11:30

AM, Natural support from locals with respect to traffic crossing and train loading

Operationsy Provide lunch box services from home to work place and back y Movement of lunch boxes y 10:34 11:20 AM Loading in the train y 11:20 12:30 PM Unloading at destination station y 11:20 01:15 PM Lunch time at destination point y 01:15 02:00 PM Reverse Logistics- Lunch box pick up y 02:00- 02:30 PM Segregation as per destination code y 02:48- 03:30 PM Return journey by train y 03:30 04:00 PM Final sorting and dispatch to origin area

Cost of Operationy Low Cost helping in expansion, customer retention and generating y y y y y y

economies of scale Monthly charge Rs 300 per lunch-box Cost depends on distance covered Local transportation is used which is highly economical and less time consuming Transportation from station to home through bicycles, hand-pulled wooden carts or hand held bags Earnings of around Rs 5000 to Rs 8000 pe r month through profit sharing Total Revenue generated Rs. 360 million

Error free Distribution CTQ (Critical-to-Quality) Three important CTQs Everyone will like to have his own lunch-box and no one

elses It should be delivered neither too really nor too late Cost of this service should be low as higher cost would dissuade customers from using this service Error free delivery achieved through unique codification system

Coding systemy Unique, simple and ad hoc y It has a flow logic ensuring complete traceability and

flow directions both forward and reverse logistics y Easy to recognize by uneducated dabbawalas with little training y Simple combination of alphabets, numbers and colour codes

Example coding schemeLegends VLP VLP 9 EX08 9 EX08 EX 08 M Meaning Vile parle Code for destination Express Towers Floor No. Code for dabbawalahs at residential station Code for destination station

M

3

3

Distribution Network Designy Milk run system y Just-in-time y Each dabbawalah collects lunch-boxes

from houses allocated to himy Supports wide coverage, optimal

utilization of dabbawalahs capacity, time flexibility to meet target collection and operational easey Final destination railway platform y Movement in Sub-urban trains

Distribution Network Designy Distribution beyond the destination railway

stationy Hub and spoke system y Rail platform is the hub of distribution point y Dabbawalahs take lunch box load to different office building y Consolidation of Distribution is needed y Lunch boxes of one multi-storied building or adjoining

offices are sorted according to coding system y Adaptation of these configurations is by intuition and experience

Use of Modern Technologyy No usage of Modern Technology y No tracking system and no usage y y y y y

of motor vehicle transport Low Cost Advantage Usage of mobile services Booking for delivery through SMS and their website Negligible operating expenses Usage of push-carts, cycles and head carrier

Inferencesy Trade-off between system-wide costs and service levels y Efficient supply chain and time management y Simple and easy flow of information and communication y Error free distribution y Best tradeoff solution for a real life problem which often

deals with multiple objectives y Commitment and customer- orientation lead to the operational efficiency of the distribution system