Strategic Insights into the operations of the Dabbawallas of Mumbai

1. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
The Dabbawallas of Mumbai
Amit Rangnekar NMIMS PhD 2004

2. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Quotes
• “People study business books and then
practice. We practiced first and have now
become case studies” R Medge President
• “ It’s a model of managerial &
organisational simplicity” CK Prahalad

3. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Belief- WORK IS WORSHIP
Credo- We deliver come what may, the
customer shall never go hungry
Tiffin crate weight:
75-80 kgs.

4. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Efficiency
• Zero % fuel
• Zero % investment
• Zero % modern technology
• Zero % Disputes
• 100 % Customer Satisfaction
• Average education levels- 8th Standard
• 50% illiterates

5. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Operations
• Employee Strength: 5000
• Number of Tiffin's: 200,000 Tiffins
= 400,000 transactions every day
= 400,000*25 days*12 months= 120,000,000
(120 million or 12 crore transactions per year)
• Time taken: 8 hrs, wartime is 3 hours
• Success rate: 100%
• Delivery: On time, every time

6. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Results
• Error Rate : 1 in 16 million transactions
• Six Sigma performance (99.999999)
• Technological Backup : Nil.
• Cost of service - Rs. 280-330/ month
($6-8 £3-4, €5-6 per month)
• Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space)
• “No strike” for 115 years, a record, as each one is
a share holder

7. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
The Need
• Late 19th century
• Work driven migrations to Mumbai
• No families
• No canteens / fastfoods
• Early work hours, no time to prepare food
• Different communities, different tastes
• Satisfied only by home cooked food

8. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
The Seed
• Mahadev Bache, identified the need gap
and pioneered lunch delivery in Mumbai
• Recruited youth from his native village
• Youth with insufficient agri-incomes to
feed large families
• Youth with no skills or education

9. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
The Rising
• Operations began in 1890
• 20 dabbawallas
• Expand to 100 dabbawallas
• Charged Rs 2 / month, target mill workers
• Most Dabbawallas from Western
Maharashtra

10. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
The Boom
• 1950s & 1960s
• Industrial boom
• Proliferation of offices in South Mumbai
• Preference for home food
• 200,000 Dabbas delivered per day

11. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Getting Organised
• Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity
Association (now Trust) formed in 1954
• Offices at Grant Road, Dadar, Chembur,
Ghatkopar, Mulund, Andheri
• Western Harbour & Central Lines covered

12. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
1970s
• Boom time
• Dabbas in 3 shifts in many mill areas
• But
• Bank nationalisation changed working
hours
• Rail strike ensured disruption in services

13. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
1980s
• Textile Mills start closing
• Majority of the mill workers, the biggest
segment, stops availing the service
• Daily business slips to 150,000 dabbas

14. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
1990s +
• Gain clients who yearn home cooked food, shun
outside food
• School tiffins surge
• Daily business again reaches 200,000 dabbas
But,
• Offices start moving to the suburbs
• Industries start moving outside Mumbai
• Most mills closed

15. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006

16. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Key players
• One group has 20-25 dabbawallas
• Each dabbawalla picks up 30-35 dabbas, travels
between 2-10 km by bus / cycle / on foot to deliver
• 1970s &1980s, 40-45 dabbas were picked up but
plastic tiffins being wider, occupy more space
• Each group led by a Mukadam, who controls and
coordinates the activities
• Group areas not demarcated, 3-4 groups operate
in the same area
• Seamless co-ordination of activities of collection,
distribution and delivery through relays
• Each change is called a ‘badli’

17. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
GENERAL
SECRETARY
TREASURER
DIRECTORS ( 9 )
MUKADAM (800)
MEMBERS ( 5000 )
13 Decision Makers
Key duties- Conflict resolution, administration, welfare

18. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
30%
60%
10%

19. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Wartime: Emergency measures being taken to ensure delivery

20. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Prime-time

21. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006

22. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006

23. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
12 coach train, 4,000 commuters
8,000 disputes, But no excuses,
Duty first
12 coach train, 4,000
commuters, 8,000 disputes, no
excuses, duty first
Sorting at Churchgate
Origin station Destination station

24. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Sorting
• Sorted by destination
• 30-35 dabbas packed in wooden crates
• Crates loaded in packed train luggage
compartments
• Building wise / lane wise sorting at
destination stations

25. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Distribution
• 70% deliveries at
CST & Churchgate
• Frantic activity at noon
• Sprint / cycle to deliver
• High volume areas like
Nariman Point, Fort ,
CST have dedicated crates,
carrying 150 tiffins, pushed
by 3-4 elderly
dabbawallas

26. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Reverse in top gear
• 2pm to 6pm
• Collect the empty dabbas
• Assembling and sorting
• Delivered back to where they came from
by evening

27. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
• The return journey is
more pleasant due to
a lighter load and the
dabbawallas indulge
in fellowship, light
hearted banter and
catch up with their
accounts

28. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
What’s Unique
• Different dabbawallas pick up, sort and deliver
• Co-ordination is seamless
• The person who delivers does not know the
origin address and vice-versa
• Nowhere on the dabba is the owner’s name or
address put, but there are no delivery errors
• Errors do not occur due to mistakes by the
dabbawallas, but due to pilferage in trains or
sorting areas
• No ‘Parking’ issues although such a huge load is
processed

29. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006

30. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Binding Agents
• All are stakeholders
• Many are relations
• Similar customs and traditions
• Faith in Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur
• “We cannot deliver only if the trains in
Mumbai do not run, but in that case, no
one can reach office either”
Gangaram Talekar- General Secretary

31. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Code of conduct
• Rs 25- Not carrying ID card
• Rs 25- Not wearing white cap
• Rs 100- Smoking on duty
• Rs 500- Drinking on duty
• Rs 1000- Leave without intimation, sacked
if repeated in 2-3 instances

32. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Financials
• A dabbawalla makes Rs 5500-6000
($125, £60, €100) per month
• Incidentals- Railway pass + crate costs+
luggage pass + incidentals Rs 500 ($11,
£6, €9) per month
• Rs 400 go to the parent association
• Net monthly earnings range from Rs 4500-
5000 ($100, £50, €75)

33. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Adaptations / Innovations
• Express delivery system (pick up at 11am)
• SMS a dabba
• www.mydabbwallas.com (under construction)
• Tie-up with a group of housewives to cook & supply home-
cooked food
• Tie up with Dr Vijaya Venkat, who supplies food based on
medical ailments of the patient, after examining them

34. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
CSR
• Each dabbawalla donates Rs 15 per
month
• The trust has set up 4 dharamshalas,
schools and temples at their native place
• Help during medical emergencies
• Family members of dabbawallas who die /
are incapacitated while in service are
absorbed into the system / compensated

35. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Strategic Issues
• Expansion into Navi Mumbai / Panvel
• Model duplication across other cities
• Franchising in other cities
• Backward integration into catering
• Forward integration into couriers
• Networking through surrogate homes for single
persons
• Foray into Call centers /BPO/ ITES / Retail with
dual delivery shifts

36. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Challenges
• Offices- Shift to central / suburban/ Navi Mumbai
• Proliferation of Local eateries, tendency to eat
out
• Inhouse cafes / canteens/ lunch coupons
• Second generation dabbawallas residing in
Mumbai , not joining the profession
• Morning tiffins difficult as working women
increase
• Attrition rates high
• Average age of the dabbawallas is 52 years

37. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Key drivers
• Committed workforce
• Stakeholders faith
• Teamwork
• Operational flexibility

38. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Sustainable Advantage
• Mumbai’s efficient rail network
• Simplicity and scalability of operations
• Employees as shareholders
• Economy pricing deters corporates

39. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Opportunities
• Demand for home cooked / fresh food would
rise due to increased awareness
• Offices shifting to areas connected by rail-
BKC, Lower Parel, Navi Mumbai, Panvel,
Western suburbs
• Retail / Call centers/ ITES / BPO
• Increasing petrol prices
• Metro rail in the offing

40. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006

41. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Opportunities, Challenges & Options

42. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
Are the dabbawallas going to be extinct?
“How can it be ?
Sure, some clients
may move away, but
children will continue
to go to school and
people to offices.
As long as people feel
the desire for home
cooked food,
the dabbawallas would
always deliver”
• R Medge, President

43. Amit Rangnekar, NMIMS-PhD-2004
Copenhagen, Sep2006
With their most famous student