Dabbawalas of Mumbai- Large Service Supply Chain

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Dabbawalas of Mumbai-Large Service Supply Chain
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Leading without Suits and Ties

• Talks on Best Practices at CII, IIMs, IITs,
  companies Regularly sought by print media and
  electronic media
• Common queries
• How do they recruit?
• Working of incentive system with equal pay for
  all?
• Do they know their clients?
• Robustness of distribution channel?
• Dealing with growth?
• Competitors?
• World is changing! Not dabbawalas?

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Facts

• 2003 5000 recruits, 175, 000 clients
• 350,000 deliveries
• 75 kms of public transport
• Failure once in two months, one in 15 million
• Rs 380 million per annum

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Structure

• Three tier structure
• Executive committee
• Mukadams
• Dabbawalas
• Role of Groups (a profit centre with 8 mukadams)
• Culture similarity of the staff
• Distinct local entity of dabbawalas
• Known for reliability and work ethic
• Helped by commuters

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Distribution Network

• Baton relay system
• Hub and spoke arrangement
• No historical, theoretical legacy in the design
• No use of computer technology
• Coding system
• Decentralized at the group level
• Workday schedule
• 30-35 deliveries (manageable)
• Sorting, loading and unloading at peak rush hours
• 4 handlings of a dabba in a day- coding essential

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Distribution Network

• K-BO-10-19/A/15
• Clients name is not even existing
• Easy coding scheme as the level of literacy is
  not very high

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Operating Environment

• Competitors Fast Food chains, restaurants and
  road-side vendors, Udipi chain etc.
• Competition is different
• NO MANUFACTURING, ONLY DISTRIBUTION

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Success Factors

• Low cost delivery
• Rs. 150 -200
• Delivery reliability
• Entrepreneurs, not employees
• No strikes
• Flat structure
• Referrals from friends and relatives
• No dilution of service culture

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Success Factors

• Decentralization
• Perceived equality
• Effort different, same remuneration
• Suburban Railway Network
• Foodline of the city

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Future

• Key concerns
• Shrinking customer base and loyalty
• Loss of textile mill workers in 80s amd 90s
• Each group authorized to target new customers
  (school children etc.)
• Lifestyle changes
• Not a major damage for the business
• Workforce management
• Next generations do not seem to be greatly
  interested
• Not many incentives for good workers
• Not many disincentives wither (no firing)

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Future

• Sales and Marketing reps of companies?
• Approach
• Only for sample products, flyers
• Not for products with billing
• Want to keep meal delivery simple and manageable
• Replicate to other cities
• Distribution network
• Working population
• Preponderance of long commuting times