A detailed yet precise case study on the famous Mumbai Dabbawalas on how they started from scratch and reached its pinnacle and almost each middle class family depends on the dabbawalas and they also had tie-ups with major giants and met very great personalities like Prince Charles and sir Richard Branson and they have also achieved recognitions like six sigma

1. MUMBAI
DABBAWALA
A CASE STUDY
A CASE STUDY BY:
RAGHAV MAHESHWARI
BBA 1

2. CONTENTS
 Origination
 Modus Operandi
 Developments
 Pre COVID Scenario
 Impact of COVID – 19
 Post COVID Scenario
 SWOT Analysis
 Notable Events

3. ORIGINATION
• Founded by Mr. Mahadeo Havaji
Bachche in 1890 under British rule
• Started due to hefty demand
• Started with only 100 employees
• Mostly the manpower is from Varkari
community of Pune, India

4. MODUS OPERANDI
• Delivering and returning dabbas at office
and houses respectively on time
• Six dabbawalas are involved in every
transaction
• Coding system due to illiteracy
• Means of transport is mainly Mumbai
local

5. DEVELOPMENTS
• Mr. Mahadeo informally unionized the dabbawalas in 1930
• Establishment of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust in 1956
• Commercial arm of the trust got finally registered in 1968
• Innovation in colour coding system
• In last 130 years only one time the dabbawalas went on a strike

6. PRE COVID SCENARIO
• 5000 members worked as dabbawalas
• 400000 transactions(200000 deliveries/day)
• Same salary of each dabbawala regardless of his job
• Their growth rate was 5-10% every year

7. IMPACT OF COVID-19
• Suspended services from March 20,2020 due to COVID-19
• Cyclone Nisarga of June 3, 2020 destroyed houses of several dabbawalas
• In October dabbawallas were allowed to travel in local trains
• Unseasonal rains in November also destroyed their harvest
• Employee turnover rate touched its peak due to COVID-19

8. POST COVID SCENARIO
• Only 450 dabbawalas are currently working
• Each dabbawala carries five tiffins
• Planning to start delivery of organic vegetables
• In today’s critical situation too every dabbawalla is paid approx. Rs.4000

9. SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH
• Values
• Customer satisfaction
• Just in time approach
• Low operation cost
WEAKNESS
• Vulnerable to Mumbai local
• High rate of illiteracy
• Not prepared for pandemic
OPPORTUNITIES
• Expansion
• e-Booking of service
• Tie-up with caterers and
restaurants
• Advertising
THREATS
• Fast food outlets and
online services
• Work from home culture
• Food vouchers
• Catering services

10. NOTABLE EVENTS
• In 1998 they got Six Sigma certification
• In year 2005 the dabbawalas got ISO 9001:2000 certified
• In year 2005 Prince Charles , the Prince of Wales visited them
• Prince Charles invited them to his wedding
• In year 2005 IIM Ahmedabad featured a case study on them
• In year 2005 Sir Richard Branson also visited the dabbawalas
• On March 21,2011 Dabbawalas created World Record