Supply Chain Management Of Dabbawallahs

DABBAWALLAHS “WHERE THERE IS A DABBA, THEIR WILL BE A DABBAWALLAH”

What is NMTBSA? (Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Association) History Charitable trust 1956 Avg. Literacy Rate Schooling Total area coverage Employee Strength Number of Tiffin's Boxes

Box Suppliers : Started in 1880 : Registered in : 8th Grade : 100 Kms : 5000 : 2,00,000 Tiffin

• Error Rate : 1 in 16 million transactions • Six Sigma performance (99.999999) • Technological Backup : Nil. • Cost of service - Rs. 200/month ($ 4.00/month) • Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space) • Rs. 50 Cr. Turnover approx. [200,000*200=400,000,00 p.m. i.e 48 crore p.a.] • “No strike” record as each one a share

DISCIPLINE : No Alcohol Drinking during business hours Wearing White Cap during business hours Carry Identity Cards Reporting duty on time LATEST MARKETING STRATEGY: Marketing message in the “dabba”

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

GENERAL SECRETARY

13 MEMBERS

TREASURER

DIRECTORS(9)

MUKADAM(700)

MEMBERS(5000)

•Acts as an supervisor, coordinator, the manager. •Each Mukadam engages 5 to 6 people to work with him. Dabbawallah’s

 Shri.Varkari

Prabhodhan Mahasmati Dindi (palkhi) sohala – 4th march – 2001.  Invitation from CII for conference held in Bangalore.  Documentaries made by BBC ,UTV, MTV, and ZEE TV

World record in best time management. Name in “GUINESS BOOK of World Records”. Registered with Ripley's “ believe it or not”.

LOGIS TIC S Logistics is happening 24 hrs a day,7 days a week and 52 weeks a year. Logistical competency is achieved by coordinating the following: 

   

Network Design Information Transportation Inventory Warehousing

CODING VLP : Vile Parle (Suburb in Mumbai) 9E12 : Code for Dabbawallas at Destination E : Express Towers (Bldg. Name) 12 : Floor No. E : Code for Dabbawallas at Residential station. 3 : Code for Destination station (E.g.. Nariman Point)

Flow logic of distribution

7 am – 9 am • Begins the circuit. • Collection of Dabbas from customer. • In an hours time they collect 30 Dabbas and pass them on to next leg of relay race. • Next relay lap starts from local railway station.

9 am – 11.30 am • • • •

Postman sorting at station. Wooden trays loaded in the compartment. Special reserved compartment in trains. Compartments contain 700-800 tiffins besides human. • Loaded and sorted at platform for area wise distribution.

11.30 am – 12 pm Final relay of the race!!! • Dozens of Dabba wala’s pour out from trains at destination platforms during this peak hour. • crates are unloaded outside the stations. • Dabbas are sorted within 10 minutes on the footpath or on platform. • Pack their carts and boxes and Dashed off to office districts.

12 pm – 2 pm • Rush to the destination on 10 min sprint, push handcarts or bicycle. • Each one assigned one block of office. • Rush with handcarts and deliver the Dabba. • Hour later the collection process starts where dabbas are picked up from offices where they had delivered. “NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO UPSET THE SYSTEM”

2 pm – 6 pm Here after the whole process is reversed. • By 3 pm they again board the train for their respective locations. • Empty Dabba’s are returned to households.

Profile of people • 4000 + dabbawallahs came from Maharastra state. • They believe to be the descendent of Mahraja Shivaji. • Maintained undisturbed monopoly. • Left poor farming community. • Dabbawallah’s uniform: loose half sleeved open white shirt, cotton pyajamas, kolhapuri chappal and their “trademark” Gandhi-Nehru cap. • Age no constraint.

Women Dabbawallah

Mrs. Bhikhubai of Borivali(East) Mrs. Anandibai of Andheri(East)

Flexible infrastructure Customer Cooperation Appropriate network structure Codification system Topography

Process capability Transport economics Redundancy Coordination Compensation Structure

Analysis Through Porter’s Model • Threat of New entries • Current competition • Bargaining power of buyers • Bargaining power of sellers • Threat of new substitute products

• To provide their services in other major cities of Maharashtra and then expand their operations to another part of country.

• They are already developing a software application thorugh which the people of Mumbai can order Dabba service online through internet. • To further enhance customer loyalty and ease of communication, they have adopted the mobile technology. • This mobile technology is being provided in association with Active Media Technology.