Food Chain At Home Just the other day I was going through the books I came across a jargons

Supply chain Management and Mumbai Dabbawalas. Lets explore more about this interesting topic. Gartner (2000) defined Supply Chain Management as the set of processes that accomplish the delivery of goods, services and information. Supply chain management has roots in the focus on lean and efficient manufacturing. These lean efficiencies were driven by corporations initiating cost saving changes to the business process. Supply chain management is seen as a process-driven approach to streamline the business. Supply chain management has at times been referred to as logistics; however there is a difference - supply chain management are those activities, departments, organizations or firms that network together to deliver a product to market. The supply chain typically includes the functions or organizations of: planning, supplier management, operations, logistics and material control. The case of Mumbai Dabbawalas Everybody must have heard a lot about the supply chain management systems used by the Mumbai Dabbawalas and the global applause they have received. From presentations at Harvard Business School to the Special visit of Prince Charles, they have received the six-sigma, ISO certificates and the limelight like never before. These days they speak about the organizational structure, working style, and delivery systems of their organization. 1. The Need Mumbai has a population of 13,830,884 and the Mumbai Metropolitan Area has a population of 21,347,412. Every morning there are over 10 million train commuters and bus passengers making interminable trips to offices mostly located in the South Mumbai. But most of them spend more than 90 minutes to reach office. So these people are not able to pick their lunch packed from home, so early in the morning. This is where

Dabbawala come into action and pick lunch box from various houses and deliver 2,00,000 number of lunch boxes on time & to the respective persons. 2. The Secret Mumbai Dabbawala have achieved unprecedented success in the areas of Supply chain logistics, reverse supply chain logistics, time management, customer relationship, customer & employee satisfaction, and cost effectiveness. Another important feature is the processing in transit like sorting, coding done during train travel. Looking at the core of their business, it is more human intense service, majority employee less educated, delivery of service dependent on many external factors like local trains, weather conditions, etc. In spite of all this, they are successful because of: i. ii. Honesty and Integrity having strong roots in their culture results in efficient team work. Discipline and Time Management can be judge from the fact that when Prince Charles wanted to meet them, they gave him a precise time slot so that the thousand customers would not have to skip their lunch. iii. iv. Pride in their work makes them move about their mission briskly with a smile, making sure they are never late. Spirituality plays an important role in relieving the day's stress. They regularly chant songs of praise to the Lord. They truly embody a living where one looks beyond materialistic earnings and serves with commitment for a cause. 3. The Learning Supply chain management needs to be applied with proper consideration for processes, human capital and other external factors. Then only it can help to provide cost efficient and reliable delivery of goods & services, beyond customers expectation. This helps organizations to develop unmatched core competency, giving strategic advantage in long run.