Mumbai Dabbawalas Case Study on Six Sigma Delivery System

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PROJECT REPORT
Submitted for the degree of B.com Honours in Accounting and
Finance
Under the University of Calcutta
a Case STUDY ON MUMBAI DABBAWALA
WITH RESPECT TO SIX SIGMA
Submitted By
Name: PREM GAURAV
Registration no: 224-1121-1339-15
Roll no: 1224 - 61 - 0223
College Name: SETH ANANDRAM JAIPURIA COLLEGE
Supervised by
Prof. Pratibha Sharma
SESSION: 2017-18

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Annexure-I
SuperviSor’S CertifiCate
This is to certify that PREM GAURAV a student of B.Com . Honours in
Accounting and finance of Seth Anandram Jaipuria College under the
University of Calcutta has worked under my supervision and guidance for her
Project Work and prepared a Project Report with the title “A CASE STUDY ON
MUMBAI DABBAWALA WITH RESPECT TO SIX SIGMA”.
The project report, which he is submitting, is her genuine and original work to the
best of my knowledge.
Place: Kolkata Signature:
Date: Name: PRATIBHA SHARMA
Designation: Lecturer in
Department of Commerce
Name of the College: Seth
Anandram Jaipuria College

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Annexure-II
Student’s Declaration
I hereby declare that the Project Work with the title “A CASE STUDY
ON MUMBAI DABBAWALA WITH RESPECT TO SIX SIGMA”
submitted by me for the partial fulfilment of the degree of B.com.
Honours in Accounting and Finance under the University of Calcutta is
my original work and has not been submitted earlier to any other
University / Institute for the fulfilment of the requirement for any
course of study.
I also declare that no chapter of this manuscript in whole or in part has
been incorporated in this report from any earlier work done by others or
by me. However extracts of any literature which has been used for this
report has been duly acknowledgement providing details of such
literature in the references.
Place: KOLKATA Signature:
Date: Name: PREM GAURAV
Address: 131/E, PURBO SINTHI , DUMDUM
Registration No: 224-1121-1447-15
Roll No: 1224 - 61 - 0223

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to
PRATIBHA SHARMA, my project supervisors and teacher of the
Seth Anandram Jaipuria College, for his valuable guidance in
sharing his knowledge and expertise which was a pillar of support in
bringing this project in such an elegant from.
I also extend my thanks to all teachers of my college for their cordial
efforts and encouragement.
I am highly Thankful to Mr. Ashok Mukhopadhyay , Principal of the
Seth Anandram Jaipuria College for giving me this golden opportunity
to carry out this project.
Thank You

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CONTENTS
CHAPTER NO. SUBJECT PAGE NO.
1 INTRODUCTION 06-13
1.1 Background 06-09
1.2 Need 09
1.3 Review of literature 10
1.4 Objective of the study 10
1.5 Methodology 11
1.6 Area of study 11
1.7 Sampling 12
1.8 Limitation of study 12
1.9 Chapter planning 13
2 CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
14-27
2.1 History 14
2.2 Organisational structure 15
2.3 Duties and responsibilities 15-16
2.4 Leaving home for work 16-19
2.5 Leaves and Corporate Social
Responsibility
20
2.6 Study of Six Sigma 21-24
2.7 DMAIC Cycle 24-25
2.8 Why six sigma 26-27
3 PRESENTATION OF DATA
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
28-44
3.1 SWOT Analysis 28
3.2 Interpretation and Analysis 28
3.3 Findings 29-43
4 CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
44-46
4.1 Conclusion 44-45
4.2 Recommendation 46
5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 47
6 ANNEXURES(Questionnaire) 48-49

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CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
In 1890, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started a lunch delivery service with about a hundred men.
In 1930, he informally attempted to unionize the dabbawallas. Later, a charitable trust was
registered in 1956 under the name of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust. The
commercial arm of this trust was registered in 1968 as Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers’
Association. The current president of the association is Bhau Saheb Karbande and Subhash
Talekar is the spokesperson.
Mr. Dhondiba Medge (1923-1980), the father of Mr. Raghunath Medge
(president of NMTBSA), framed Human Resource Policy of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin
Box Supplier’s Association. Mr. Dhondiba Medge was educated only to IVth
standard. He framed rules and regulations of the Dabbawalas. He was very stair
and disciplined kind of person who strongly believed on “Time Is Money”.
A Dabbawala is a person in Mumbai, India, whose job is carrying and delivering freshly-made
food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. They are formally known as NMTBSA
(Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier’s Association), but most people refer to them as the
Dabbawalas. The Dabbawalas originated when India was under British rule. Since many British
people who came to India did not like the local food, a service was set up to bring lunch to their
offices straight from their home. The 100-odd dabbas (or lunch boxes) of those days were
carried around in horse-drawn trams and delivered in the Fort area, which housed important
offices. Today, businessmen in modern Mumbai use this service and have become the main
customers of the Dabbawalas. In fact, the 5,000-strong workforce (there are a handful of
women) is so well-known that Prince Charles paid them a visit during his recent trip to India.
Several academic institutions regularly invite the Dabbawalas’ representatives for discussion,
and to complement and enhance their academic content. At times, businesses find it useful to
illustrate the application of how such a system uses Six Sigma principles to improve its
operations.
The main reason people use the service of the Dabbawalas is to eat a proper, home-prepared
meal during lunch. Office-goers in Mumbai usually leave at 7 am and do not get back until
after 7 pm. Most of them commute from suburbs of Mumbai and travel south to the main
commercial area of Mumbai. The railway network during the peak hours is jam-packed with
commuters hanging on the trains with one hand. Thus bringing one’s lunch at that time is not
feasible. Commuters need to use one hand to hang on from the trains and hold on to their
briefcases with their other hands. Most of the commuters cannot afford to eat outside every
day. Offices often do not provide a canteen or cafeteria service for their employees. Eating on
the roadside is unhealthy and unhygienic. Plus, the Indian diversity of food habits makes it very
difficult to answer the specific need of each employee at the office canteen. By delivering to
each employee his tiffin or lunch filled with food prepared at his home, the Dabbawalas solve
the problem for an estimated 200,000 people. They charge between Rs. 150 to Rs. 300 (roughly
3-7 USD), per dabba per month, depending on the location and collection time.
The practices of 119 years old in spite of complexities, this Dabbawalas go in to the delivery,
has been appreciated worldwide among them being BBC, MTV, CIIT, PRINCE CHARLES &
BRITAIN CHAIRPERSON OF VIRGIN AIRLINE COMPANY & OTHER TOP

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MANAEMENT COMPANIES and schools. It is believed that system if applied to other cities
like Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. will impact a major positive changes
in the lunch delivery system. The system runs efficiently and is in prestigious position with
achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE ASSOCIATION
The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is registered
institution.Though it is so, it does not function as a commercial institution e.g. courier
company.
The organziation is formed by the membe₹ to avoid any disputes and
give eachm e m b e r p r i d e , t h e e m p l o y e e -
e m p l o y e r r e l a t i o n s h i p i s a v o i d e d . E a c h m e m b e r i s a shareholder in the
association. He gets his monthly salary from each of his customersdirectly.
All the members in a group gather on a particular date of each month
mostly at anearest local office of the organization or the trust (NUTAN MUMBAI
TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS' ASSOCIATION). All the members collect their salary together,
cutdown for overheads and travel expenses. Also each member contributes amount
of rupees10;/- towards for the charity purposes.
E.g. There is the group of 15 Dabbawalas.
They carry 30 dabbas each.
They get ₹ 150/- customer .
So calculation goes like this:15×150×30 = 67,5000/-.
So. Gross earning of this group is ₹ 67,500/-
Now from this amount, a collective amount of ₹ 4000/- approximately is
deducted comprising expenses for railways pass, expenses for parking the carts and cycles and
overheads the remaining amount is divided equally into all members of the group. So,
suppose now after deductions, group has left with63,500/-; it will be divided
equally among all the members, thus each member getting ₹ 4230/- each. This
salary may not be sufficient compared to the cost of living in Mumbai also may of
have their families back in villages to send money to. To cope up, with this
problem, few of the Dabbawala have started doing some side business for extra
income. Some of them after returning home in evening drive auto-rickshaws or early in
morning before going on work distribute newspaper or milk.
The association once a month calls a meeting of all the members. In this meeting. It
tries to solve the internal problems of the members.
Such problem and solutions solved till now have laid a kind of unwritten rules and
regulations for the members of the organization to following certain cases:
1. In the case of loss of Tiffin Box of the Dabbawala, If he is found guilty, then customer is
refunded the appropriate amount for the loss.

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2. Each member is supposed to operate in his allocated area only and not any of his fellow
colleagues, work area. In fact normally no Dabbawala does this too.
3. In case if the customer is not pleased with Dabbawala provided to him for service, both of
them cannot co-ordinate well with each other than the organisation can shift that Dabbawala to
some other area and replace other Dabbawala in his area.
DISCIPLINE
• Wearing White cap during working hour.
• Reporting to duty on time.
• Behave properly and respect the customers.
• Carry identity cards.
HR PRACTICES OF THE ORGANISATION
• FLAT ORGANIZATION:
The president, Vice president, General Secretary, Treasurer and 9 numbers of
Directors formed 13 members of board under which Mukadam and other
Dabbawalas work. So due to such flat kind of organization structure decisions are taken on
the spot. Even the president and other higher categories members also work.
• NO HIRE and FIRE RULE:
Everyone is shareholder of the association. Whatever profits they earn, equally distributed
within itself. It is democratic type of organisation HR practices.
• COMMUNITY BASED RECRITMENT:
Those who have capacity to job can apply for the Dabbawala post. There is no any kind of bias
happens related to recruitment process.
• SHARING COMMON BELIEFS, VALUES and ETHICS:
All the Dabbawalas are from poor background, the aim of the
organization is mutual benefit to all members so they follow certain values, belief and
ethics to run business effectively.
• FOLLOWING OF STRICT DRESS CODES:
All Dabbawalas must wear white cap which is called as Gandhian cap on duty. Also
wear white Sadara and Pyjama (shirts and pants). All Dabbawals must carry their Identity card
on duty. All these rules are binding on all cadres of the Dabbawala.
• LOYALTY and TRUST IS THEIR MONOPOLY:
All Dabbawalas are loyal and hard working in nature. They follow their norms
and promise which they made their customer.
• TRAINING PROVIDED TO NEW EMPLOYEES:

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After recruitment they provide complete process training to new joiner under the observation of
Mukudam or any senior member. When they feel that new employees are capable to work, by
that time training will be completed.
• OWNER + EMPLOYEE ARE THE DESIGNATION OF ALL:
Everyone is the shareholder of the association. All disciplinary rules and other ethics are
followed by all members so there is no any employee employer relationship between each
other. All of them are owner of the business.
• QUARTERLY MEETING TO DISCUSS ISSUES:
Every quarter all Dabbawalas meet and discuss issues related to service, salary and future goal.
They discuss balance sheet and distribute profits among them. If any critical issue arises by that
time they call immediate meeting. They also conduct regular meeting (weekly) to handle day to
day problem. All Dabbawalas can participate in meeting and can contribute his suggestion.
NEED OF USING DABBAWALAS SERVICES
1. Home-made food is best for health and because health is wealth. Outside
junk foods may take your life and makes you sick. Home-made food keeps your doctors bill
down and there are fewer absences from office due to poor health. In fact bad food is the whole
and sole reasons of all the diseases.
2. Home-made food is cheaper. When you use Dabbawalas services to deliver your home
cooked food to your office you are actually saving your hard earned pennies. The delivery
charge of ₹ 250 - ₹300 per month is very nominal and reasonable. It is simple maths.
3. Do you not love your mother or wife and like to eat food made by her?
4. Even if there is no one at home to cook food for you, Dabbawalas can deliver you good
quality home like lunch through many restaurants. We have quality restaurants all over
Mumbai where cheap and best quality food is prepared which is delivered at your office
or home through Dabbawala Channel.
5. Safety - The Local train of Mumbai are always much crowed and it is very tough to take
even small luggage during peak times. There are instances where the person's hand got hurt
or broken and ones belongings destroyed while traveling during peak time. People leave from
their home at about 8 - 9 PM which is peak time and it is not possible to carry Tiffin during this
time and Even the food is not ready by this time. By using Dabbawala services you are getting
hot food safely deliver in your office.
6. Dabbawalas give reliable services and their performance and accuracy match Six Sigma
Standard. One must be sure that your home cooked food reaches in time.
7. The Dabbawalas never go on strike.
8. By taking our services you are proving direct employment to 5000+ Dabbawalas and many
of their dependent families. You are actually helping us.
9. Dabbawalas are from the remote villages of Maharashtra and mostly uneducated. They
regularly organize bhajan and kirtans and spread the essence of Marathi culture, good will and
one ness of India.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
There are only few numbers of researches have been done on Mumbai Dabbawalas services.
Being a very good example of Supply Chain Management, a review of the relevant literature
have been written down as under:
“The Dabbawalas shows that with the right system, an organisation does not need extraordinary
talent to achieve extraordinary performances.”
Harvard Business Review
In Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses”, one of the main characters Gibreel
Farishta, worked as a Dabbawala before going on to become a film star.
“The question we ask is; how do you get extraordinary performances from average or less than
average people? It is a big question since most managers don’t have the luxury of hiring stars –
they have to work with what they have.”
Economic Times
“Zero percent fuel, Zero percent modern technology, Zero percent investment, Zero percent
disputes, near cent percent success and cent percent customer satisfaction.”
The Hindu
“This is not for everybody, some of us feel we do not need the extra money, but we do
acknowledge the fact that we are more of a stable business than a growing one and if some of
our members feel they need to augment their income, then they should have the opportunity.”
Mr. Telekar (Editor of Times Of India)
“It was in recognition of this accuracy that the Dabbawalas were given a six sigma rating of
99.999999, and are sought after an interesting case study for Supply Chain Management by
prestigious business schools including the Harvard Business Schools and IIMs.”
The Hindu
Objectives of the study
1. To show the disciplined work and behaviour from very less educated or even
uneducated workers.
2. To show the code of conduct of the organisation.
3. To show the hard works of the workers which proves it’s six sigma rating.
4. To set an example for the Supply Chain management.
5. To show the other organisation and company that even without extraordinary talent and
modern technology, how an organisation can get six sigma rating.
6. To show the other organisation and company that even without extraordinary talent and
modern technology, how an organisation can satisfy its customers cent percent.
7. To show the working efficiency of the workers which result in negligence error or one
error in one billion.

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Methodology
Primary Data
Hear all the data collected for the first time. In this study, data has been collected through
personal contact. Questionnaire was used to collect information from the customers and this is
how their view was recorded.
 A sample of 10 questions were prepared for the workers about their work experience,
income etc.
 A sample of 10 questions was prepared for the customers about the work behaviour of
Dabbawalas and their satisfaction level.
Secondary Data
 The project is based completely on secondary data i.e. through internet, newspapers,
annual reports, magazines, etc.
 Experts’ opinion sought on various aspect of working of the Dabbawalas.
 Extract of the report of Harvard Business School and IIMs on Dabbawalas.
 Extract of the articles of newspapers like The Hindu, The Economic Times, Times of
India and Financial Times.
 Some points from the books of Shobha Bondre and Pawan G. Agrawal.
Area Of Study
 Location is NMTBSA office at grant road station west of Mumbai Suburban are.
 Study has been done on the techniques of working of Dabbawalas.
 Study is throwing a glimpse of light on the daily routine of Dabbawalas, their economic
condition and their belief on “Work is Worship”.
Sources of Data Collection
Primary Data
Secondary Data

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Sampling
 Survey method of research is used and as per survey method questionnaire is formed for
thed workers as well as for the customers.
 Questionnaire is designed in English language but for the convenient of the workers,
questionnaire were translated in their convenient language i.e. hindi or their local
language Marathi.
 The all types of Dabbawalas who are working in different categories in the association
has selected for sampling.
Sample Size
 Out of 35 samples, only 30 samples of Dabbawalas who filled all the questions in
questionnaire are selected.
 The Dabbawalas who are working from more than one year with the association are
selected.
Limitation Of The Study
Due to constraints of time and resources, the study is likely to suffer from certain limitations.
Some of these are mentioned here under so that the findings of the study may be understood in
a proper perspective. The limitations of the study are:
 The study is based on the secondary data and the limitation of using secondary data may
affect the results.
 The study is based on the secondary data therefore reliability of the study depends on
authenticity of the information which we have collected from various journals,
newspapers, and company’s own website.
 The study is taken into recent years data for finding out conclusion as the size of the
sample is very small therefore, its effectiveness is not free from limitation.
 It is first time experience to me for making a project as we are not have expertise over
the formation of the project , therefore we have been faced some serious problem
including money contents and time constraints.
 Since the organization is situated in Mumbai, it was really very difficult to make project
report on this topic as there has been only few numbers of researches done on the
Mumbai Dabbawala

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Chapter Planning
The whole project work has been divided into four chapters. They are:-
 This chapter contains introduction in which includes background, purpose of the study,
review of literature, objectives of the study, research methodology, limitations of the
study.
 This chapter contains conceptual framework which includes how the organization
works and its organizational structure.
 This chapter contains data analysis and findings which includes data analysis and major
finding.
 This chapter contains conclusion of the study

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CHAPTER-2: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
HISTORY
A B O U T N M T B S A
History: Started in 1890
Charitable trust: Registered in 1956
Employee Strength: 5000
Avg. Literacy Rate: 8th Grade Schooling
Total area coverage: 60 kms. to 70 kms.
Number of Tiffin’s: 2, 00,000 Tiffin Boxes
400,000 transactions every day (including return)
I.e. 400,000*25 days*12 months= 120,000,000
(120 million or 12 crore transactions per year)
Time taken: 8 to 9 Hours
Morning 3 Hours Wartime
(9 A.M. to 12 P.M. for the Collection and Delivery)
W o r k i n g o f N M T B S A
Error Rate: 1 in 16 million transactions
Six Sigma performances (99.999999)
Technological Backup: Nil.
Cost of service: Rs. 300/- to 350/- month
Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space)
Earnings: Rs. 5000/- to 6000/- per month.
Turnover per Annum (Approx). Rs. 72 to 80 Cr
Diwali Bonus: One month’s extra payment
“No Strike” record since 1890.“No Police / Court Case” since 1890

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Organizational Structure
D U T I E S & R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y
PRESIDENT
• Taking monthly meeting
• Checking accounts of the association
• Solving the problems among the members
PRESIDENT
VICE PRECIDENT
TREASURER
MEMBERS(5000)
DIRECTORS(9)
MUKUDAM(800)
GENERAL SECRETARY

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GENERAL SECRETARY
• Drafting the various types of letters
• Collecting the trust fees
MUKADAM
• supervising the functioning of the members in his group.
MEMBERS
• To deliver Tiffin Boxes to the customers & carry Tiffin Boxes back to their homerespectively.
CORE VALUES
• Work is Worship
• Serving people is Serving God
• Annadan is Mahadan
• Time is Money
• Unity is Power
LEAVING HOME FOR THE WORK
• The Dabbawalas leave there homes in the morning between 7:50 a.m. To 8:30a.m. depending
upon from which areas they have to pick up Tiffin boxes.
• The Dabbawalas reaches the customer’s homes according to the timing fixed between two of
them.
• The day in home then hands over the prepared & packed Tiffin box to the Dabbawala.
• Collecting 30-35 Tiffin boxes (from area specified to him) is the responsibility of each
Dabbawala. But there were we can see that number of Dabbas picked up is also dependent
upon the age of the Dabbawalas. Where a young person picks even 40 Tiffin’s each, an older
person might be pick 30.
• Also collecting Tiffin’s is not is easy task. Because, Dabbawalas have to pick up Tiffin’s
boxes from various distant location in his area. These locations may be far from
each other located on higher floors of the building where some time elevator may not
be available.
• These Tiffin’s boxes are then taken to the nearest local station by
vehicle.U s u a l l y a b i c y c l e ’ s o r i n w o o d e n c r e a t e s c a r r i e d o n t h e h e a
d . E g - I f a Dabbawalas collecting Tiffin’s boxes from area of Ghatkoper then he
will carry them to Ghatkoper or Vikhroli railway station whichever is nearer from
his area of collecting Tiffins.

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• Sorting&LoadingOfTheTiffin’sBoxes09:30a.m.-11:30a.m.
• The Dabbas are sorted by the Dabbawalas on the railway stations. Where a
groupof 10-15 Dabbawalas from the same station but from the different
locations have picked up Tiffin’s boxes. On the railway station, first sorting of Tiffin boxes
takes place i.e. Tiffin to be delivered in one particular area are assembled
together and staked wooden crates. These are then carries by Dabbawalas
handling those particular areas.
• After sorting, Tiffin’s boxes are loaded in wooden crates in railway’s luggage compartment
or on bicycle depending upon the way in which Dabbawalas who is going to carry
them & what is his destination area (the Dabbawalas who is going to carry the
Tiffin’s destined to be delivered at station’s where first sorting is done, he only will
carry them on bicycle).
• Mumbai railway has provided luggage compartment in railways but the luggage
compartments in the morning time is very much crowded. But them too these Dabbawalas
make way through it and find a place for themselves and their crates.
• So in the morning peak hours the luggage compartment in the train is crowded with 20-25
Dabbawalas and 700-800 tiffins along with them.
• 11:30a.m. to 12:30P.m. - Distribution of Tiffin boxes To the Final Destination.
• These times slot is very important, as the service delivery has to be started in this time only
to complete it in all allocated locations to all given customers. After resorting
process the Dabbawalas set off for the delivery of Tiffin’s boxes to the customers.
Each one of them is assigned on a particular location or block of customer’s work place
say one road etc. that person undertakes the responsibility to deliver the lunch
boxes in that particular assigned area irrespective of where the Tiffins boxes
has come from, which person is initially collected it and to which group of
Dabbawalas that person belongs to .Who is Mukadam of that group etc. in this time slot if we
observe we will see all the Dabbawalas rushing carefully through crowds on the roads to reach
to the customer’s work place.
• Generally offices lunch time is from 1:00p.m. to 2:00 p.m. So it is very important that lunch
boxes have to be delivered to the customers before his lunchtime.

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• The Dabbawalas have the lunch at the premises of offices nearby where they deliver tiffin
boxes if their association office is not easily reachable.
• 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• The Dabbawalas in the same areas of delivery gather at the nearest association office and have
their lunch in the vicinity of the office premises where they have just deliver the lunch boxes.
• 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Now the Dabbawalas return to their customers’ workplace to collect the empty tiffin boxes.
The whole process goes back again but in the reverse order.
• 2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• The return journey by the train where the group finally meets up after the day’s
routine to dispatching and collecting from various destinations offices.
• Usually, since it is more of a pleasant journey compared to the earlier part of the day. The
Dabbawalas lighten up the moment with merry making, joking and singing.
• 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• This is the stage where final sorting and dispatch take place. The ground meets up at origin
station and they finally sort out the tiffin boxes as per the origin areas.

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M A N P O W E R P L A N I N G
Day to day their number of customer are increasing simultaneously they increase
their manpower too. They don't have any criteria about recruitment of Dabbawala.
They have some poets which new recruit Dabbawala should follow these rules are as follows.
• First few months he has to work under the supervision of senior person or Mukadam.
• He must wear which sadara (shrit), while pant (Gandhi Topi) & white cap at the
time of working.
• He should be physically fit to carry Tiffin boxes.
• He should maintain good relation which customer.
• He should be punctual.
• He should be able to work with team.
• He should has to give prior information to the association before going on leave.

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L E A V E S
NMTBSA has segregated annual leave on two types
1.Weekly Leave:
All Dabbawala gets weekly leave on every Sunday.
2. Festival Leave:
All Dabbawalas are devotees of lord Shiv Shankaras and Vitthalas. So the organisation only
sanctioned leaves for those festivals which are celebrated for their God.
• Mahashivaratri (Festival of Shiv Shankaras).
• Aashadhi Ekadashi (Festival of Lord vitthalas).
• Kartiki Ecakashi (Festival of Lord Vitthalas).
• Chaitra Pournima (New Year of Marathi People).
• Diwali (2 days) (Festival of Lights).
C O R P O R A T E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I E S
• Started "Armashala in Bhimashankar district in the year 1930.
• Maharashtra government promotes HIV awareness through Dabbawalas channel.
• Innovative workplace programmes carries HIV prevention message. Indian and American in
partnership to fight HIV AIDS plan consist of reaching Mumbai office workers with HIV AIDS
prevention message in their lunch boxes through Dabbawalas network in the innovative
programme supported by the emergenc plan. On world AIDS day 2005, the project delivered
lunches containing information about HIV AIDS as approximately 2,00,000 office goers the
5,000 Dabbawalas delivered lunch boxes. The emergency plan supported efforts of the
Dabbawalas association include the lunches creatively designed materials and coasters bearing
messages reflecting the World AIDS Day. The message “Stop AIDS, Keep the Prooise”. “In
the additions of these World AIDS Day activities the programme work through the year to
reach out to corporations to address HIV AIDS in the workplace.
“ S T O P A I D S , K E E P T H E P R O M I S E ”

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STUDY OF SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY WITH RESPECT TO
MUMBAI DABBAWALA
SIXSIGMA
The distribution system is handled by almost illiterate or as we can say
semiliterate people. Most of them uneducated or just servant or just fourth grade passed but
this note make any different to them. Yet the system runs efficiently and is in
prestigious position with achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING. It proudly shares
this position with world famous giant management corporate like GE, MOTOROLA and
other global MNCs.The reason behind this is the wonderful work system offered by
them with only 0.01%error rate in comparison with the huge number of operations it
includes. They have got the prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA RSTING because
of their percentage of correctness which is just perfect up to 99.999995 i.e. six
decimals or more than that. Not many of the topmost companies are even near to it. This is
simply incredible. Though they have achieved SIX SIGMA RATING & a wide
popularity, it cannot be neglected that the operations completely involve
physical hard work & coping up with common modes of transport. He crowded
modes of transport, traffic &roads, continuous physical work-it is not too easy. And we
have even six p-seventy years old patrons doing it for a living. These are the people who
treat customer as GOD & run whole of their life for their God. Six Sigma is
a philosophy and a methodology focused on defect reduction.
INTORDUCTION ABOUT THE SUBJECT
Six Sigma best described as a journey, a journey for business professional who are
truly committed to improving productivity and profitability. Six Sigma isn't
theoretical; it's an active, hands on practice that gets results. In short, you don't contemplate
six sigma; you do it. The six sigma story began in the 1980 at Motorola,
where it was first developed and proven. In 1983 reliability engineer bill
smith concluded that if a product was defective and corrected during the
production, then other defects were probably being missed and later found by
customers. In other words, process failure rates were much higher than indicated
completely free defects; they probably wouldn't fail customers later. Six sigma statistically
measures and reflects true process capability, correlating to such characteristic
as defects per unit and probabilities of success or failure. Its value is in
transforming culture outlooks from complacency to accomplishment across the spectrum of
industry. Most companies function at Four Sigma tolerating 6210 defects per
million opportunities. Operating at six sigma creates an almost defect
free environment allowing only 3.4 defects per one million opportunities: products
and services are nearly perfect (99.9997%) eliminating defects eliminates dis-satisfaction.
This all sounds good in theory, but how do you put it into practice? Well six sigma
is about arming your human "assets" with the training, resources, and knowledge
to solve problems. It's also about taking a leadership journey to guide those assets
toward ever-increasing achievement. Six sigma asks hard questions about your processes and
gets thedata that supports them. It provides solutions that fit your unique processes.

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What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is statistical concept that measures a process in terms of defects. Achieving six
sigma means your processes are delivering only 3.4 defects per million opportunities. In
other words, they are working nearly perfectly. Sigma is a term in
statistics that measures something called standard deviation. In its business use it
indicates defects in the outputs of a process, and helps us to understand how
far the process deviates from perfection. The central idea of six sigma
management is that if you can measure the defects in a process, you can
systematically figure out ways to eliminate them, to approach a quality level of zero
defects. So in short, six sigma is several things :
• A statistical basis of measurement 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
• A philosophy and goal: as perfect as practically possible
• A symbol of quality.Six Sigma value is a metric that indicates a process forming.
PRACTICAL MEANING OF SIX SIGMA
• "Sigma" is a measure of the variation or spread within a process.
• The sigma value is a metric that indicates how well a process is performing.
• Six Sigma is a methodology to drive process improvements by focusing on defect elimination.
• In Six Sigma philosophy, sigma is a common language that indicates how often
defects occur in a process.
• Focusing on sigma requires through process understanding & break through
thinking.
• Six sigma a methodology & tool set that can be used to identify and
reduce defects.
• Six Sigma provides bottom line results improving the condition of the business.
• Six Sigma utilizes the team approach to process improvement, gaining
employee participation, knowledge, and support.
• Six Sigma is a continuous improvement process, striving ever closer to perfection and
allowing no complacency with success.
• Six Sigma is both a methodology and a metric.
• Six Sigma focuses on addressing the needs of the customer.
• Six sigma provides a structured approach to understanding and improving process. There are
some level in sex sigma process which calls “Six Sigma” level. These are as follows:

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Sigma Level(Process Capability) Defects per million opportunity
2 3,08,537
3 66,807
4 6210
5 233
6 3.4
Practical Meaning Or 99% Good
30 Capability 93.92% Historical Standard
40 Capability 99.38% Recent Standard
60 Capability 99.99966% Industry Vision
ESSENTIAL OF THE SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY
The six sigma methodologies uses statistical tools to identify the vital
few factors, the factors that matter most for improving the quality of processes and
generating bottom-line results. It consists of four steps :
1. Measure (What)
• Identify Project Scope/Goal
• Define Key process Elements
• Establish Process Capability
• Validate Measurement System
• What is the frequency of Defects?
• Define the defect
• Define performance standards
• Validate measurement system
• Establish capability metric
2. Evaluate (Where, When, Why)
• Benchmark Process Entitlement
• Data Analysis
• Determine Critical Factors
Where, when and why do Defects occur?
• Identify sources of variation
• Determine the critical process parametersProcess Optimization

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3 . I m p r o v e m e n t ( H o w )
• Develop Improvement Plan
• Understand/Optimize Vital Process Elements
• Reduce Variation/Defects
• Verify Impact
How can we improve he process?
• Screen potential causes
• Discover relationships
• Establish operating tolerances
Were the improvements effective?
• Re-establish capability metric
4. Control (Sustain, Leverage)
• Implement Long Term Control Plan
• Leverage to Similar Products/Processes
• Document & Standardize
• How can we maintain the improvements?
• Implement process control mechanisms
• Leverage project learning's
• Document and Proceduralize
DMAIC Cycle
We should note that six sigma methodologies are longed. Approaches vary,
sometimes significantly. One of the variations is in the phases. Same approaches
use all five of the phases listed above. While others not include the define phase.
Six sigma professional recognize that this approach is a kind of roadmap for improvement,
this is the tool which helps managers and employees to understand and improve critical
processes.
Step 1: Define
• Identify the project that are measurable.
• Projects are defined including the demands of the customer and process.It is the initial stage
of starting the project and the most significant step
Step 2 : Measure
• The current level of quality is measured into Sigma level.
• It precisely pinpoints the area causing problems. It forms the basis of the problem solving.

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• Project defects must be precisely defined and all possible and potential causes for such
problems must be identified in this step.
• Subsequently such problems are analysed statistically.
Step 3: Analysis
• In this step, when and where the defects occur is investigated. Projects are statistically
analysed and the problems are documented.
• Major elements to be performed in tha 'Analysis' step are as follows.
• Projects must be statistically and precisely defined in terms of sigma.
• The gap between the target and the actual state is clearly defined in statistical terms like mean
and moving average.
• Comprehensive list of the potential causes of the problems is created.
• Statistical analysis is carried out to reduce the potential casuese intofew causes.
• Finally based on above steps, the financial implication of the project is calculated and further
review is carried out if necessary.
Tools for analysis
• Process mapping
• Failure Mode & Effect Analysis
• Statistical Tests
• Design of Experiments
• Control charts
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
Step 4: Improve
• The choices are how to change, fix and modify the process.
• A trial run must be carried out for a planned period of time to esnsure the
reviesionand improvements implemented in the process result in achieving
the sugetedvalues. The steps are repeated if necessary.
Step 5: Control
• Proper control and maintenance of the improved states are established in this step. It is also a
step to regularize the new method.
• The results and accomplishments of all the improvement activities are documented. There is
continuous monitoring of where the improved process well maintained.

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WHY SIX SIGMA TO MUMBAI DABBAWALA?
Having discussed the reasons why a suply clain like the NMTBSA can successful, we need to
further look into the reasons that contribute towards the system to be extremely efficient, the
following are the major ones.
• Simplified coding system
• High conformity to the system
• Buffer in the lead time
• Confirmede by the limits of the human capabilities.
SIMPLIFIED CODING SYSTEM :
The system is based on a simple coding system. The coding system has been explained in the
exhibit II. It completely specifies the location as well as the person who is to carry
to box. It also simplifies the sorting at the residential & destination locations. Thus,
it ensures a complete flawless system. Any scope of flaw now lies onlyin sorting & the
delivery, which can be managed because there are more people involved in
it, which remove the scope of errors. At first when number of tiffin boxes was less, the
Tiffin's were tied with a coloured thread or wires to be identifies properly. But as the time
passed and number of Tiffin's to be delivered started increasing, this system of coding was
found to be insufficient and inappropriate. So, in the early 1970's the association
decided to implement new system of working where Tiffin box codes & markings were
uniform. This coding system can be explained life this Each Tiffin box has a certain
unique code painted on the top of the lid of the Tiffin box. The code consists of the alphabets,
numbers & even colours. This includes.
• Where a Tiffin box is originally picked from
• Were it had to be given
• When is the Dabbawala who is finally going to deliver it.
• Which group of Dabbawala does the tiffin boxes belong to(In case of more number of Tiffin
boxes to be delivered in same area of location).
THIS CODING SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLAINED MORE IN DETAIL WITH HELP OF
AN EXAMPLE:
A BO 9
10 M
16

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Here the circle represents the top of the lid of the Tiffin box. “BO" indicates "BORIVALI"
which is the station of the pick-up of the Tiffin box. “A" indicates the code given to be
the Dabbawala or group of Dabbwalas the member of which group picks-up the Tiffin
box initially from the customer's house. These codes are A,B.C, etc. according to the
groups. When on each residential railway station there are more than two groups of the
Dabbawala. Each group is given in a colour painted on the top of the lid of the Tiffin
boxes. Often the codes are written in their full forms also. The number "10"
indicates the main area of the destination location. The number
10 prevailing in the current system is allocated to the area of "Nariman Point". The number "9"
on the right hand side indicates the main location of the Nariman Point and also the number of
the Dabbawala handling delivery in the particular area. “M” stands for the “Mittal Tower”.
“16” stands for the 16th
floor on which the customer is located and Dabbawala has to deliver
the tiffin box.

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CHAPTER-3: PRESENTATION OF DATA,
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
S W O T A N A L Y S I S O F N M T B S A
STRENGTH
• Low operational cost
• Customer satisfaction
• Low attrition rate
• Flat organization
• Team spirit & team management
WEAKNESS
• Limited access to education
• Funds for the association
• No social security to members
OPPORTUNITY
• Operational cost is low
• Wide range publicity
THREAT
• Job satisfaction level of new generations
• Competition
• Canteen facility provided by corporate firm.
INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS
Here in this part, we are going to analyse the data collected through the answers
given by the Dabbawals and customers to the questions in the
questionnaire. For the purpose, thirty five Dabbawalas and thirty five
customers were given the questionnaire to fill. In the course they were also asked
the reasons for the particular answers to the subject questions. The Dabbawalls review include
all type of the Dabbawala from normal Dabbawals to mukadam (team leader); also interact
with president, vice president, secretary, treasurer to collect full information related to research
work. The data or the answer to the questions reflects the view of the customers regarding
various aspects such as:
• Their monthly income
• Any social security cover
• Their work experience
• Job satisfaction level

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Questions for the Dabbawalas:
Q1. What is your educational qualification?
I. Below std. IV II. From std. V to std. X
III. From std. XI to std. XII IV. Higher education
The purpose of this question was to know about their educational background. The Dabbawals
service appreciated by Britain prince Charles, Virgin Atlantic airline chairman Sir Richard
Branson. Dabbawalas are not highly educated but their I.Q.(Intelligent Quotient) level is high.
They have more than 5000 Dabbawals strength, which are capable to deliver lunch boxes to
approximately 4 lacks customers.
EDUCATION NO. OF DABBAWALAS
Uneducated 03
Upto std. VIII 22
Upto std. XII 05
Higher Education 00
INTERPRETATION:- Out of 30 Dabbawalas’ interview, 3 of them are not educated, they
didn't go to school but they know entire coding system which is in English
language, also able to sign in the muster roll.
Out of 30 Dabbawalas’ interview, 20 of them lies in the category of educational qualification of
upto std. VIII, 5 of them belongs to the category of educational qualification of upto std. XII
and none of them had higher education degree.
Q2. How many years have you been working with the organisation?
I. 0 to 5 years II. 6 years to 10 years
III. 11 years to 15 years IV. Above 15 years
0
5
10
15
20
25
Uneducated Upto std. VIII Upto std. XII Higher Education

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The object behind to ask this question is as follows:
• The answer will give details of exact number of people who are loyal with the
organisation.
• The criteria for this research project is to take interview of those Dabbawalas who has
completed more than one year service, So-this question help to sort our sample for research.
• The question helps to know about the no. of younger generation's entry in
this profession.
Years No. of Dabbawalas
0 year to 5 years 08
6 years to 10 yeas 11
11 years to 15 years 06
Above 15 years 06
INTERPRETATION: - The suggestions of experience Dabbawalas are very fruitful so I get to
know their numbers. There are 08 Dabbawalas which lies in 1 to 5 yrs of experience, The total
number of Dabbawlas of 6-10 years’ experience is 11, Out of 30 sample, 05 Dabbawalas
lies in 11-15 years of experience and, there are 05 Dabbawalas with the experience of
above 15
years.T h e r e a r e m a n y D a b b a w a l a s w h o h a s b e e n w o r k i n g f r o m m o r e
t h a n 2 5 y e a r s w i t h association.These higher senior categories of Dabbawalas are 03 of
whole sample.
Q3. Are you satisfied with your salary?
I. Yes II. No
The reason behind asking this question was to know whether they are quite satisfied from the
reward of their work or not.
Options No. of Dabbawalas
Yes 18
No 12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 Above 15

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INTERPRETATION:- On interviewing from the Dabbawalas, it is found that on sample of 30
Dabbawalas, 18 Dabbawalas are satisfied with their salary and 12 of them said in negative.
Q4. Is monthly salary able to fulfil your basic needs?
I. Yes II. No
The reason behind asking this question was to know about their basic need and is the reward
they get for their work is quite sufficient to fulfil their basic need or not.
Dabbawalas are doing risky job. To travel Tiffin boxes through trains at peak hour, also as per
requirement of the customer they provide services on public holidays. But they only get Rs.
200-300 per month per Tiffin from customer who contributes around Rs.5000-6000
monthly income. But to live in city like Mumbai, this amount is not capable to fulfil basic
needs.
The aim of this question is to know opinion about their monthly income.
The question covers financial aspect of research work.
Yes 07
No 23
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Yes No

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INTERPRETATION:- Only 07 Dabbawalas out of 30 are satisfied with their salary, which
are able to complete their basic needs.The remaining Dabbawalas i.e. 23 are not
satisfied with their salary which is unable to ful fill their basic needs.
Q5. Do you have insurance cover for yourself?
I. Yes II. No
The object behind to ask this question is to know how many Dabbawalas thinks
about their life and do investment to secure it. I got some good reply from them, some
Dabbawalas are very conscious about their life because they know risk gravity in
their job. They want self-protection and family protection from uncertain events
so they secured their life.
Yes 13
No 17
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Yes No

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INTEREPRETATION:- Out of sample of 30 Dabbawalas,17 of them have not secured their
life because they don’t have sufficient amount to invest in insurance. But they wish to invest in
the insurance. They want government or association should secure their life or give them
insurance.
Q6. Do you get any retirement benefit or any old age benefit or any other benefit or any
other monetary benefit from the organisation?
I. Yes II. No
The organisation does not provide any retirement benefit or old age benefit
to their members. There is little reason behind this:
• NMTBSA charges low fees from their customers
• They do not have sufficient balance to provide retirement benefit
• Whatever monthly income they earn, they equally distributed within itself.
• If any Dabbawala want to retire or leave job, he can do by selling his clients to
association, that time association give him a lumsum amount; which is only source of income
for them after retirement or resignation. The Dabbawalas association has "DAKKHAN
MAVALE SAHAKARI PATPEDHI" this gives personal loan to members at very
reasonable rate. The members can take benefit after retirement also. So the gap of
old age benefit or retirement benefit to members is partially filled up by this scheme.
Options No. of Dabbawals
Yes 02
No 28
INTERORETATION:- After interviewing 30 Dabbawalas, only 02 have them replied in
positive as they take loan from the "DAKKHAN MAVALE SAHAKARI PATPEDHI". The
rest Dabbawals answered in strong no.
Q7. As per nature of job, had you face any injury during your work?
I. Yes II. No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Yes No

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The object behind to ask this question is to know risk gravity in their job. Doing
field work job in Mumbai city is too hectic, and handle time management side by
side is very impossible. So doing these kinds of job, what kind of problem they face and how
they tackle in was the prime aim behind this question.
Yes 09
No 21
INTERPERTATION:- 09 Dabbawala out of 30, met with an accident in the course of duty.
They also mention the reason of the accident. The reasons are as follows.
• The four wheeler struck to cycle at walkeshwer area at the time of delivering tiffin boxes. He
was hospitalized and he got his hand and leg fractured.
• Due to continuous cycle riding they face problem of pain in leg, chest.
• Many times vehicles struck to their cycle.
The remaining 21 Dabbawala said that they know the art of riding cycle
with carrying tiffin boxes. But they are not denying that in the future they
will not meet with an accident. Means there is a lot of risk they carry at the time of
delivering tiffin boxes.
Q8. How much amount of bonus do you get?
I. One month’s salary II. Two month’s salary
III. Based on days worked IV. No Bonus
The reason behind asking this question is to know whether they get any bonus or not? If yes
then how much amount of bonus do they get?
Bonus No. Of Dabbawals
One month’s salary 30
Two month’s salary 0
Based on days worked 0
No Bonus 0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No

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INTERPRETATION:- Out of sample of 30 Dabbawalas, each of them replied in same option
that they get one month’s salary as the bonus at the time of Diwali.
Q9. Other than this organisation, have you ever worked somewhere else?
I. Yes II. No
The Dabbawalas are getting only Rs. 5000-6000 monthly. This amount is not sufficient to live
in city like Mumbai. The Dabbawalas family consist spouse, children and parents, all are
totally dependent on them.
Yes 06
No 24
INTERPRETATION:- 24 Dabbawalas ot of 30, do not work at any other place,
because they completely tired after doing daily work and unable to do other kind of part-
time job.6 Dabbawalas who are young they do part-time job in morning or in evening. Such as:
•Doing some agency work like Bhisi, investment etc.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
One month's
bonus
Two month's
bonus
Based on working
days
No Bonus
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No

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•Pan card-helping others to get pan card.
•Landing - unloading work- hamali in flawer market of Dadar and in other area
•Working as a Coompounder clinic-those who are educated they do part time work clinic.
Q10. How do you rate your experience with the organisation?
I. Excellent II. Good
III. Bad IV. Very Bad
This question helps to know about their past experience and also to know about
their exact job satisfaction level. The question gives idea about Dabbawalas opinion
about their association. The Dabbawalas are spending their work life with association so
how they rate their experienceis the prime factor in this job satisfaction research.
Excellent 18
Good 09
Bad 03
Very Bad 00
INTERPRETTION:- Out of 30 Dabbawalas,
18 mark as "Excellent" level about their work experience.
09 mark as "Good" working experience with association.
03 mark as "Bad" level about their work experience.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Excellent Good Bad Very Bad

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Questions to the customers:
Q1. How many years have you been taking services from the Dabbawalas?
I. 0 to 3 years II. 4 years to 6 years
III. 7 years to 9 years IV. Above 9 years
The object behind to ask this question is as follows :
• The answer will give details of belief of people on the Mumbai Dabbawala.
• The criteria for this research project is to take interview of those customers who has
completed more than one year service, So this question help to sort our sample for research.
Years No. of Customers
Upto 03 years 06
Above 09 years 10
INTERPRETATION: - Out of sample of 30 customers,
 06 customers are taking services from last 03 years.
 06 customers fall in the category of taking Dabbawalas’ services from 04 years to 06
years.
 08 customers are taking services from 07 years to 09 years.
 And balance 10 customers are taking services from more than 09 years.
Q2. As per nature of job, how did you often get your tiffin box?
I. Right on time everyday
II. Average delayed of 15 minutes to20 minutes on regular wise
III. Some day on right time and some day with the delay
The reason behind asking this question is to know the working performance of the Dabbawalas.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Upto 3 years 4 years to 6 years 7 years to 9 years Above 9 years

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Options No. of customers
Right on time everyday 30
Average delayed of 15 minutes to20 minutes
on regular wise
00
Some day on right time and some day with
the delay
00
INTERPRETATION:- Out of 30 customers, all of them came with its very option, i.e., they
get their Dabba right at the time.
Q3. How much amount do you pay for this service?
I. ₹150 to ₹200 II. ₹200 to ₹250
III. ₹250 to ₹300 IV. ₹300 to ₹350
Dabbawala organisation charges on the basis of how far tiffin boxes have to be delivered.
Although, they charges very less amount from the customers, but this vary on the basis of
location.
Charges No. of customers
₹150 to ₹200 03
₹200 to ₹250 07
₹250 to ₹300 12
₹300 to ₹350 08
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Right on time
everyday
Average delayed
of 15 minutes
to20 minutes on
regular wise
Some day on
right time and
some day with
the delay
0
5
10
15
₹150 to
₹200
₹200 to
₹250
₹250 to
₹300
₹300 to
₹350

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INTERPRETATION:- Out of sample of 30 customers,
 03 customers pay only ₹150 to ₹200 as their work place is nearer.
 07 Customer pay between ₹200 to ₹250.
 12 customers pay between ₹250 to ₹300.
 08 customers pay between ₹300 to ₹350 as their work place if far from the location of
Dabbawalas.
Q4. On taking Dabbawalas service, have your ever faced economic burden?
I. Yes II. No
Option No. of customers
Yes 00
No 30
INTERPRETATION:- On taking services from the Dabbawala, none of the customers came
with positive answer. They all replied in negative saying that it is very much cheap and it’s a
simple maths.
Q5. Do you get receipt for your payment?
I. Yes II. No
Yes 30
No 00
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Yes No

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INTERPRETATION: - On interviewing 30customers, all of them said they do get a receipt
voucher on the payment time.
Q6. Before this, did you ever receive this service from somewhere else?
I. You II. No
The reasons of asking this question are to know the popularity of Mumbai Dabbawala services.
Yes 00
No 30
INTERPRETATION: - None of the customers replied in positive on asking whether they had
taken services from somewhere else or not.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Yes No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Category 1 Category 2

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Q7. How is the behaviour of Dabbawalas?
I. Excellent II. Very Good
III. Good IV. Very Bad
Excellent 16
Very Good 06
Good 08
Very Bad 00
INTERPRETATION:- The behaviour of all the Dabbawlas are quite good with all the
customers. On asking 30 customers, 16 of them opted for Excellent, 06 of them said very good
and rest replied in good.None of the customer opted for bad option.
Q8. How would you rate Dabbawalas out of 10 point?
I. 0 to 4 II. 5 to 7
III. 8 to 9 IV. 10
Ratings No. of customers
0 to 4 00
5 to 7 01
8 to 9 04
10 25
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Excellent Very Good Good Very Bad

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INTERPRETATION:- Out of 30 customers, 25 of them gave 10 out of 10 point to the
Dabbawalas, 04 gave them point between 8 to 9, only 01 customer gave points between 5 to 7.
None of the customers gave point below 5.
Q9. How do you rate your experience with the organisation?
I. Excellent II. Very Good
III. Good IV. Bad
Options No. of customer
Excellent 16
Very Good 08
Good 06
Bad 00
INTERPRETATION:- Out of sample of 30 customers, 16 said that they had an excellent
experience with the organisation, 08 said very good and rest of them had good experience with
the organisation.
0
5
10
15
20
25
Category 1 5 to 7 8 to 9 10
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Excellent Very Good Good Bad

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Q10. Would you like to give suggestion for the improvement?
I. Yes II. No
Yes 06
No 24
INTERPRETATION: - Out of 30 customers, 24 of them said that they do not want to give
any suggestion as the Mumbai Dabbawala service is best.
06 of them said that they should use modern technology.
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No

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CHAPTER-4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
MUMBAI DABBAWALA
Managing more than 5,000 Dabbawalas daily is really incredible. So what kind of
Human Resource Policy they have adopted and how do they implemented it, was
the objective behind this report. Which are satisfactory completed and I got some
key formulas, principles of their effective Human Resource Management system
from this project work. The lacs of office goers, 5,000 Dabbawalas and risky
schedules, all these kind of problems they are able to handle only due to their
efficient human resource management system. Mr. Dhondiba Medge formed
Human Resource Policy for Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers’ Association. He
set core value for the association, these improved their system. The key feature of
the human resource management is flat organisational structure.
These are able to maintain no communication barriers from top level to Lower level.
All Dabbawalas are employer of the association, there has no any employee-employer relation.
This thing is the motivational factor behind their job satisfaction. Effective delegation of
authority helps them to do works effectively. From top level to lower level Dabbawalas know
their work and their target which helps to effective job satisfaction.
They have implemented Human Resource Policy in their organization; these contain strict
disciplinary rules of employment, dress code and effective training and development facility to
new joiners. They follow management principles in their organization such as team work, time
management, innovation, customer relationship management and six sigma. Because of these
they called as “Management Guru”.
Human Resource Planning, Manpower planning, Training and Development, Disciplinary Code
of Conduct and their Corporate Social Responsibility activities are the key result areas of their
Human Resource Management System. Their daily earning is not sufficient to fulfil their basic
needs but whatever they earn out of from it spent some amount in CSR activities. “We are the
part of society which provides many resources to us, so it is our prim duty to give back to the
society”- this CSR principles they follow. The organization has gained a lot of appreciation
from foreign countries but it still in some ways or other not fully appreciated by its own
countrymen. Organization can do a lot to perform better but it needs support and word
appreciation from its own countrymen. If so, it will even leave back the top world
running entrepreneurs and give India a place of pride on the world map.
CONCLUSION WITH RESPECT TO SIX SIGMA
The Dabbawala system of one of its own kind, unique to Mumbai, extraordinary in
operations, run by less educated people but higher in achievement on performance
scale than the leaders in management field and the country's topmost joint ventures. They
might not have the huge capital and assets like others. They are the

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winners. They have their greatest asset-the satisfaction of their performance
and trying to follow them in their own countries. Such is the system India is proud of?
They have prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA rating the term used for
the percentage of correctness which is just perfect, up to 99.999995 i.e. six decimals or more
t h a n t h a t .
The Six Sigma methodology and fundamental objective is to implement a
measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction. Six
Sigma is a term used in manufacturing process improvement methodologies and it
refers to the variability of a process.
S i x S i g m a h a s r o o t s b a c k t o t h e t e a c h i n g s o f D r .
J o s e p h S u r a n a n d D r . W . Ewwards Deming (Thawani, 2004). Six Sigma is a high
performance, data driven methodfor improving quality by removing defects and their causes in
business process activities.The higher the number of sigma's, the more consistent is the process
output or the smaller the variation. It is particularly powerful when measuring the
performance of a processwith a high volume of outputs.
Six Sigma links customer requirements and process improvements with
financial results while simultaneously providing the desired speed, accuracy and
agility in today's e-age. In 1998, Forbes Global magazine conducted a qualities
assurance study on the Dabbawalas operations and gave it an accuracy rating of 99.999999
more than Six Sigma. The Dabbawalas made one error in six million transactions. That put then
on the list of Six Sigma rated companies, along with multinationals like Motorola and GE.
There was only one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries.
A true Six Sigma organization produces not only excellent product but also
maintains highly efficient production and administrative processes, Six Sigma may
mean not only the obvious reduction of cycle time during production but, more
importantly, optimizing response time to inquiries, maximizing the speed and accuracy
with which inventory and materials are supplied, and fool proofing such support process from
errors, inaccuracies and inefficiency. The primary factor in the successful
implementation of Six Sigma project is to have the necessary resources, the
support and leadership of top management, customer requirements identified explicitly
and a comprehensive training programme.
Six Sigma’sDMAIC structure of problem solving is its ability to analyse, i
mprove and control processes with an emphasis on the ability to measure the
performance. Deployment of Six Sigma is best achieved through the defined
projects. Success of a Six Sigma project depends on buy-in by the entire
organization, deployment of the process, effective training and key measurements. Lucas has
thus concluded that:
"Current Business System + Six Sigma = Total Quality Management"

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RECOMMENDATION
Though the system has provided to be very beneficial for its customers and employees but there
are some kinds of limitations. These gaps should have to be filling up by adopting
recommendations.
After completing this research there are some recommendations from the Dabbawalasside and
some from my own side, which are follows:-
 INSURANCE COVER:
The organisation must think about providing insurance cover to all Dabbawalas. They
can contact many insurance providers and can take group policy of all Dabbawalas
which cost fewer amount than single insurance cover. Organisation should have to talk
with Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and put forward their proposal.
 JOB ENLARGEMENT (ADVERTISMENT):
The organisation should do job enlargement activity like be an advertise promoter.
Daily they reach more than four lacs of office goers and also travel with public
transport. So they grab attention of lacs of people in a day. So they have to take a job of
promoting advertisement of companies’ brands, TV serials etc. which would add extra
income in their fund.
 CONSULT WITH GOVERNMENT:
The organisation should have to consult with different with different government
agencies and put forward their issues. Such as:
1. Government should provide social security cover to them.
2. To provide some place of exchange of tiffin boxes at public places.
3. To give concession in traffic rules at the time of peak hours.
4. Railway board should provide separate luggage compartment to them between
morning’s peak hour.
 EXPAND BUSINESS:
They should have to expand their business and try to do smart business in other kind of
service sector like Courier service.
 START ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMME:
The organisation should start adult education classes for uneducated and less educated
Dabbawalas.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY DATA:
Questionnaire from the Dabbawalas and from the customers
using the Dabbawalas’ services.
SECONDARY DATA:
 WEBSITE:
www.mumbaidabbawala.in
www.wikipedia.com/mumbaidabbawala
www.thehindu.com
www.economictimes.com
www.google.com/mumbaidabbawala
 BOOKS:
MUMBAI’S DABBAWALA by Shobha Bondre
DABBAWALA OF MUMBAI by Pawan G. Agarwal

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ANNEXURES
Questionnaire
Question to the Dabbawalas
1. Name:-
2. Age:-
3. Address:-
4. Marital Status: Married:
Unmarried:
5. What is your educational qualification?
6. How many years have you been working with the organisation?
7. Are you satisfied with your salary?
8. Is monthly salary able to fulfil your basic needs?
9. Do you have insurance cover for yourself?
10. Do you get any retirement benefit or any old age benefit or any other benefit or any
other monetary benefit from the organisation?
11. As per nature of job, had you face any injury during your work?
12. How much amount of bonus do you get?
13. Other than this organisation, have you ever worked somewhere else?
14. How do you rate your experience with the organisation?
Question to the Customers
1. Name:-
2. Age:-

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3. Address:-
4. Marital Status: Married:
Unmarried:
5. How many years have you been taking services from the Dabbawalas?
6. As per nature of job, how did you often get your tiffin box?
7. How much amount do you pay for this service?
8. On taking Dabbawalas service, have your ever faced economic burden?
9. Do you get receipt for your payment?
10. Before this, did you ever receive this service from somewhere else?
11. How is the behaviour of Dabbawalas?
12. How would you rate Dabbawalas out of 10 point?
13. How do you rate your experience with the organisation?
14. Would you like to give suggestion for the improvement?
If yes, mention:

Mumbai Dabbawalas Case Study on Six Sigma Delivery System

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