The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Food for thought from dabbawallahs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 24, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Food for thought from dabbawallahs

Staff Reporter

They met the students of ISBM

Back to basics: The dabbawallahs interacting with the students at ISMB

BANGALORE: For the students of the International School of Business & Media (ISBM) here, it was back to management basics. And to teach them that rustic art of punctuality and time management, the dabbawallahs came down from Mumbai on Wednesday.

Five thousand dabbawallahs bridge great distances to deliver home-cooked food to their customers daily. It is their unwavering commitment to “customer satisfaction” that helps them transport an astounding two lakh tiffin boxes daily with very little error margin and earn a Six Sigma certification.

Charging a mere Rs. 300 a month to deliver food, the dabbawallahs practise equality in every way. The total collections are equally divided amongst the working partners .

Touched by the documentary on them that preceded an interaction, questions came thick and fast from ISBM students. Dabbawallahs Association president Raghunath Madge was ready to take them all. If the trains halt due to rains or blasts, how do dabbawallahs manage to deliver on time? “We always check whether the trains are running on time. When trains don’t move, our customers don’t go to work. So where is the question of delivering food?” he retorted.So, how does one get into the network? “Only people from a particular region in Western Maharastra are part of the dabbawallahs,” he explained. “Newcomers get a six-month training. They have to be proficient in Hindi and should have the capacity to cycle for long distances. ”

Not all rely on the Mumbai trains though. In fact, about a lakh customers are schoolchildren. “Since parents don’t put their children in schools beyond four to five kilometres, we mostly cycle to such places,” said Mr. Madge. Despite 60 per cent of its employees being unlettered, the dabbawallahs have perfected their unique management capabilities. For the students, this was wisdom at its practical best.

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