Dabbawalas, they aspire to inspire YOU

“Aspire to Inspire before you expire”, this is my favourite quote. Success in life is nothing but to aspire more people through your work and commitment, People look upon you as an inspiration when you signature your work with commitment. Mumbai Dabbawalas is one such inspiration which exemplifies the work with commitment. This article is about our Mumbai Dabbawalas, a lesson on individual and team leadership, rooted in core principles of hard work, customer satisfaction and human values.

The great Mumbai Dabbawalas services started in 1890 and have 5,000 employees, with an average literacy rate of 8th grade schooling. They cover a total area of 60-70kms and carry nearly 0.2m tiffin boxes, totalling 0.4m transactions, 120m transactions every year.Dabbawalas have never resorted to any strike or got involved in any police/court case since 1890. A strict code of conduct is enforced throughout the organization.  Mumbai Dabbawalas have won many awards and accolades, including Six Sigma performance and ISO 9001:2000 certification, most notably without applying for it. Lastly,Dabbawalas now perform a role of brand ambassador for the country.

 Simple principles behind the success 

• The takeaways: The key takeaways from the working of dabbawalas are their i) passion, ii) commitments, iii) consistency, iv) execution, v) accuracy, vi) dedication, vii) time management, and viii) complete customer satisfaction.
• Four key principles: The four key principles that guide dabbawalas are i) work is worship, ii) customer is god, iii) no alternate to hard work, iv) importance of human values.
• Functions and workings: The great Mumbai Dabbawalas services started in 1890 and it was registered as a charitable trust in 1956. At present, they have 5,000 employees, with an average literacy rate of 8th grade schooling. They cover a total area of 60-70kms and carry near 0.2m tiffin boxes totalling 0.4 transactions,120m transactions every year. It takes around 8-9 hours for this to accomplish, including the morning three hours of wartime.
• Simple organizational structure: The dabbawalas have a very simple and flat organizational structure, with 13 members at the top organizational position, including nine directors. The second layer comprises of 800 mukadams and the rest 5,000 are simply members with all equal status.

 Impeccable service at a reasonable cost 

• Charges only : The cost of dabbawalas service is kept low at INR 450-500 per month, irrespective of weight, distance and space. This is because if the prices are raised further, they would face competition from the local restaurants who would supply cooked food to the customers. In all thusdabbawalas make INR 9,000-10,000 per month. Diwali bonus, once a year, amounts to a month's extra payment. Dabbawalas add this with supplementary income, including delivery of newspapers in the morning and odd jobs in the evening.
• Discipline: A strict code of conduct is enforced throughout the organization that includes the following, i) no alcohol/smoking during business hours, ii) mandatory white cap during business hours, iii) carry identity card, and iv) no leave without prior notice. In case of an emergency absence, it is reported immediately.
• Some unique features: The average weight carried by a dabbawala is around 60- 65kg. There is no fuel, modern technology, investment or disputes involved in the entire service. The performance rating is higher than 99.99%, with 100% customer satisfaction.
• A fool proof coding system: Dabbawalas use a simple but fool proof coding system that mentions i) residential area code, ii) dabbawala code at residential, iii) building name, iv) floor no., v) dabbawala code at residential station and vi) destination station.

 Delivery of Six Sigma performances against all odds 

• Crowded trains: The Mumbai trains are overcrowded with 12 coach trains, 4,000 commuters, 8,000 disputes but there is no excuse as duty comes first. The tiffins are unloaded and rearranged as per destination area and building. The reverse process follows during return journey from all destination stations.
• Awards and facilitation: Documentaries have been made on MumbaiDabbawala services by various TV channels in India and abroad. Also, they became celebrated case studies in various business schools across the world. They receive invitation for lecture among the world's leading institutes.Dabbawalas received ISO 9001:2000 award on August 1, 2006 that too without application! They are included among DNA's top 50 entrepreneur list of India.
• Achievements: One of the most celebrated success of MumbaiDabbawalas is that of Six Sigma performance, with an error rate of one in 16m transactions (i.e., 99.99966 success rate). Besides, they have got recognition at Guinness Book of World Record, Ripley's "believe it or not" and many other sources.
• Brand ambassador for country and other anecdotes: When Prince Charles visited the dabbawalas, they had to set the venue and time (Church gate Station between 11.20 AM to 11.40 AM only on November 4, 2003) as they would otherwise be busy at serving their customers who are god in their eyes. This relationship extended
• Further when dabbawalas sent gifts on the second marriage of Prince Charles and when the latter sent his condolence message after heavy floods in Mumbai on July 26, 2005.

 Hope you received your “Dabba of Inspiration” today.

 Cheers

DC*