The Hindu : New Delhi News : Focus on success of Mumbai dabbawalas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 25, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Focus on success of Mumbai dabbawalas

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: An interactive session on "Dabbawalas of Mumbai: The Success Story" was organised at the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday.

It was organised jointly by the Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) and the Education Promotion Society of India in collaboration with the Birla Alumni Associations' Network.

Introducing the theme, BIMTECH Deputy Director Anupam Varma said a study on the activities of Dabbawalas showed that they not only deliver lunch boxes but also work as a highly cohesive team.

"Implementation of the techniques of team building comes out as an important feature. How else could they have continued this activity for over 115 years with a no strike record? The Association has six offices in Mumbai and the office-bearers meet on 15th of every month. They have certain laid down rules that are followed by each one of their 5,000 members, many of whom are not educated. They work as a cohesive team and respect each other," added Dr. Varma.

After collecting lunch packed in two or three-tier metal boxes called "dabbas" from subscribers homes, the Dabbawalas deliver the boxes to their work places.

After the lunch is consumed, the Dabbawalas collect the boxes and return them back to the homes of subscribers.

To elaborate on logistics, supply chain, discipline, time security and unit coding of the Dabbawalas, a documentary was also screened on the occasion. Besides handling over 2 lakh tiffin boxes every day, the Dabbawalas are now making use of information technology for expanding their business as well as social security.

To the credit of Dabbawalas, the error rate is reported to be just one in 16 million deliveries.

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