The document summarizes the operations of the 125-year-old Dabbawala lunch delivery service in Mumbai. It discusses how over 5,000 Dabbawalas deliver 130,000 home-cooked lunches daily to customers across the city using a color-coded system and achieving nearly flawless accuracy. It also highlights the Dabbawalas' organizational structure, recruitment process, job satisfaction of members, and their recognition worldwide for excellence without advanced technology.

3. 5000 Dabbawalas delivering 130000 Dabbas Daily
124 years old association Semi-literate force
Elected representatives
Based in Mumbai
Organized structure
Excellence without technology
Applauded worldwide
Service Record

4. Gen. Secretary
Treasurer
Director
ORGANIZATION
Operational committee
Gen. Secretary
Treasurer
Director
Charitable Trust
5000 members including
635 supervisor

5. Recruitment
Friends and
relatives of
existing
members
Hired on
probation of
6 months
Commitment
Matters, not
Qualification
Semi-literate
people doing
job without
questions

6. EMPLOYMENT TO LOW-INCOME
MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY
HIGH JOB SATISFACTION
EMOTIONAL UNITY
WORK IS WORSHIP
STICK TO TIME

7. Our ancestors fought in Shivaji’s army. Today we
fight against time.
-Raghunath Medge, President Dabbawala Organization

8. How it all started

9. out 125 years back when a Parsi banker wanted to
have home cooked food regularly in office and gave
this responsibility to the first ever Dabbawala.
Other people also liked the idea and the demand for
Dabba delivery soared.

10.  Identification of Opportunity by Mahadeo
Havaji Bachche.
 Conversion of Opportunity into Business.
 Utilizing the Railway System for the Business.
 Hiring Villagers and Tribal's (Dabbawalas).

11.  Word of Mouth for acquiring new Customers.
 Diversity ( Caste, Tastes and Preferences).

13. Recognised as delivering Six Sigma level of
accuracy in DABBA delivery. That means only
1 mistake in 6 million chances.

17. Using color markers:
E :: Code for Dabbawala Street
at residential station
VLP :: Residential Station Ville Parle
3 :: Code for Destination station.
Ex: :: Church gate
9 :: Code for Dabbawala at Destination.
Ex :: Express towers ( Building name)
12 :: Floor no. in the building.

19.  The foremost is love and caring of the
housewives who make sure their loved ones
get the healthy food from home.
 And trust! That they have on dabbawala. If
the Dabba system is going strong even after
125 years, we must thank the Mumbai
housewives.

21.  Website www.mumbaidabbawala.com
 Website attracts more than 1 million visitors
annually.
 Informative newsletter
 Send your leaflet, product description also
with the Dabba.
 Fees given for advertising are shared equally
among dabbawala and are used for their
welfare.

23.  Delay in pickup of a single Dabba may result in the
delay in the delivery of thousands of dabbas.
 The growing number of vehicles slows down the
speed of the Dabbawala.
 In the anxiety to ensure on-time delivery many
Dabbawalas end up breaking traffic rules.
 Honest to their commitment, Dabbawalas don’t stop
their services even in extreme weather conditions.

25. Picture 1: Prince Charles Visit to Mumbai
Dabbawala's.
Picture 2: Sir Richard Branson’s Visit.

26. 1.
• Keep operational costs as low as possible.
2.
• Keep capital investment bare minimum.
3.
• Just serve your customer – nothing else.
4.
• Customer is not the Raja but Maharaja.
5.
• Complexity opposes compliance.

27. 6.
• Never deviate from your core competency.
7.
• Do not be over dependent on technology.
8
• Flat organization – fast decision making
9.
• Co operation inside – competition outside
10.
• Keep extras for fault tolerance

28. 11.
• Know the implication of failure.
12.
• Build your services around existing infrastructure.
13.
• Abandon bad customers.
14.
• Strike means suicide – labor means life.
15.
• Penalize employees for non compliance.

29. 16.
• Commitment matters, qualification doesn’t.
17.
• Do not transfer your employees very often.
18.
• Keep your employees emotionally united.
19.
• High salary alone cannot retain employees.
20.
• Be humble and do not boast your success.