The Story of Mumbai Dabbawallah’s

The Dabbawallahs is a community in Mumbai that collects hot lunches from homes of workers and delivers them to their place of work by lunch time. They also pick up the empty lunch boxes and deliver them back to their destination.They are known for their supply chain management owing to very few mistakes made. One of the most noticeable thing is that the Dabbawallah’s nurture their organisations as communities. It is not because they are all employees but because doing so maximizes productivity and creativity while reducing risks.

• They commute on the local trains using the tight train schedule as a disciplinary measure.Problems are visible and cannot be swept under the rug.
• The Dabbas exchange a lot of hands and use simple codes on the Dabbas to identify them with.
• No over-reliance on technology. They use basic mobile phones to connect with their existent customer base.

STRUCTURE :

Flat Organizational structure (200 units of 25 people). This is perfectly suited to provide a low cost delivery service. (customers only pay Rs.400-Rs.500/ month). They all get a salary of Rs. 8,000/- irrespective of their roles.The Dabbawallahs all manage themselves with respect to hiring, logistics, customer acquisition and retention and conflict resolution. This helps them in the following ways:

• Helps them operate efficiently
• Keeps costs low
• Quality of service is high

All workers contribute to a charitable trust that provides insurance and occasional financial aid.

Each Dabbawallah is an Entrepreneur.

They are responsible for negotiating prices and acquiring new customers. They hold long term customer relationships. They have strict morality code which does not allow them stealing of customers but there are no restrictions as to from where they can acquire new customers.

New Hires are given on the job training. After a probation period of 6 months, they can also buy into the business. Workers with more than 10 yrs of experience are appointed as supervisors through a majority vote.

I tried to understand the Dabbawallah’s structure in order to understand how they make profits but the profits are not a big factor for them. What is worth looking at is their community model, their efficiency in working and management of the entire structure within itself.

Hi, this article is a part of a series of articles I am writing while studying Design Led Innovation at Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology. They are meant to be reflections on things I learn or read about during this time.I look forward to any feedback or crit that you can provide. :)