Dabbe Ka Funda

The Dabbawalas business dates back to 118 years The inspiration / idea were conceived from a Parsi who loved his wife and only preferred food prepared by her. The business today generates Rs. 55 Crores, employing about 5000 people The company employs no Chartered Accountants to manage their finances or other functions All dabbawalas are shareholders in the company The backbone of dabbawalas business is Discipline. In Manish Tripathis words Dabbawalas minus Discipline equals zero A business that boasts of Generations of customers They owe a lot to the local trains running on time & cycles are their common means of transport for business. Their six sigma winning coding system is a very simple combo of 3 codes including Area Code, Dabbawalas code & destination building code. The values that run the system: Discipline, Work is Worship; Anndaan hi Mahadaan; Taking responsibility seriously The organization has become symbolic of Mumbais culture, and the dabbawalas themselves have structured their own narrative as an indigenous brand that thrives on little technology and basic infrastructure. They claim to be the descendants of soldiers of the legendary Maharashtrian warrior-king Shivaji, and belong to the Malva castea legacy that is well in sync with their highly indigenous operations. Donning Gandhi caps and regularly getting together for cultural ceremonies, the dabbawalas both draw upon and contribute to the cultural fabric of Mumbai.

Six Sigma Quality Service of Mumbais Dabbawalas

Six Sigma is the measure of quality that strives for near perfection. It is a disciplined, data-driven methodology focused on eliminating defects. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything that falls outside of a customer's specifications Many say that a good Six Sigma infrastructure should comprise fully trained business leaders, quality leaders, experts, and individuals supporting specific projects in their areas. Others also claim that a person from the shop floor would be a valuable member of the team as he knows the goings-on from below. There is however a team that is working on Six Sigma efficiency, in fact more than six sigma because they claim only 1 mistake in every 16,000,000 deliveries. This team is not composed of engineers, quality practitioners, finance men, or management gurus. Im talking about the Dabbawalas. There is 1, 75,000+ lunch boxes served everyday by approximately 5,000 dabbawalas within 3 hours using a 25 KM public transportation system of Mumbai. These lunch boxes are picked up from home and then delivered to office workers by lunch time. Dabbawalas carry these lunch boxes for delivery using local trains, buses etc... And deliver the lunch boxes on time. This service has been in existence for over 115 years and has been given Six Sigma award by Forbes magazine. There is no six sigma training conducted for them to deliver these lunch boxes without errors and yet they manage to keep their defects at just 1 defect every 6,000,000 deliveries. Thats one defect per 6 million opportunities! Can you believe that?

Achievements, Awards & Meetings

In the last 5 years everyone from Prince Charles to Richard Branson to CK Prahalad have flocked their workspace ( streets of Mumbai) and every organization worth its salt has piled them with certificates on managing quality, supply chain,cost,change etc .They have been named as SIX SIGMA organization with 1 error per 16 million transactions. They have lectured at every management school from the IIMs in India to Stanford and Harvard in the US. The list is endless...

Learnings
There are some key takeaways so more than what you read just sit back, absorb what is being said and then try to implement at your workplace. 1.Keep operational costs low these are cost of doing business and eat profit 2.Do not invest unless it gives you assured returns and you will almost certainly loose out if you dont 3.Customer is not the Raja but the Maharaja Prince Charles was asked to met the dabbawalas at church gate station so that the deliveries for the day are not affected Discipline and Time Management

These disciplined workers work perpetually and effectively in a city that movement is difficult due to the extremely high number of residents. They have received World record in best time management. Motivation

The dabbawalas are highly motivated individuals. Their job is very important. It is a very big deal in India if a customer does not receive his box on time or even receives a wrong box. Interdependence and trust

There are many small groups and each group has to be responsible for itself and for every other group. So there is a high interdependence. If one team is not working well then the whole procedure is at risk. Close to the customer

They are very close to the customer. They try to satisfy the need of every customer by taking and delivering on time with no mistake. Training time

Three months are the training time and a practice testing in order somebody to be a dabbawalas. In contrast big companies like Mc Donalds spend less than one day to train their employees. Small Group Formation

A group consists of few people with a supervisor. The team members share the revenue. Trust and respect are the raw materials that describe a group.

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