VLP 23 MPW 3 Q – means nothing to us, but this is an instance of a code that’s behind a successful business model helping deliver 200,000 lunch boxes every day to office goers in Mumbai.

Dabbawala is synonymous with Mumbai, and any other city including Coimbatore will have to pass a test of ‘eligibility’ before they can be served up this Six Sigma system, said educationist and motivational speaker Dr Pawan Aggarwal, who has conducted an elaborate study on this successful lunch delivery network, and a protagonist working to improve the dabbawala’s livelihood with simple business strategies and education.

Speaking to Covai Post, Dr Pawan said, “Dabbawala’s service purely depends on a city’s lifestyle. If people can carry their own lunch boxes, why would they need a dabbawala?

“Also, it’s important to know how many cook lunch at home and how big a city is,” said Dr Pawan, who was in Coimbatore to talk on Supply Chain Management at Compass, a programme marking the Silver Jubilee of GRD School of Commerce and International Business and GRD Institute of Management of Dr GRD College of Science.

Efficient supply chain management depends greatly on infrastructure and logistics, but besides the outside factors, a lot relies on the motivation to deliver, Dr Pawan said.

“A dabbawala, who is the principal player executing the supply chain management strategy, traverses the city despite infrastructure and logistics challenges to deliver the lunch boxes on time and to the right person as his motivation to complete the day’s work exemplarily, is 100 per cent.”

Masters in time management the low-tech lunch delivery system is run by uneducated dabbawalas with an impeccable accuracy that is put at roughly one error in every 16 million transactions.

Granted an ISO9000 status dabbawala has been accorded the status of Six Sigma organization by Forbes, the significance of which does not matter to the dabbawalas as they continue to deliver lunch boxes dressed in white cotton kurta-pyjamas and the white allegorical topi, which Dr Pawan said is worn so that can be easily spotted.

“The Rs50 cap can attract a fine of Rs 500 if not worn, to instil discipline among the dabbawalas,” said Dr Pawan.

Delivery giants like Amazon and Flipkart have approached the dabbawala for tie-ups in other sectors, said Dr Pawan.

This could, perhaps, mark the beginning of the dabbawala’s entry into business diversification since the system was launched way back in 1890 by Mahadeo Havaji Bachche with 100 workers, and now the 5,000-worker organization is headed by Bhau Karvande.

The workers are the investors of this elementary operation. A dabbawala , who earns between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000, contributes a minimum capital in kind like bicycles, wooden crates for the lunch boxes and uniform. Every month the earnings of each unit are divided.

Dabbawalas start their day at 9am by collecting about lunch boxes from homes and unloading them at the Vila Parle station, which will be re-sorted several times based on destinations before they are eventually sent to offices.

Then in a reverse process, the lunch boxes are returned to the different homes by 6pm.

The letters VLP, for instance, represents Vila Parle, with other numbers and letters of certain colours signifying collection points, stations, building and floor.

“The lunch boxes, which are marked by the dabbawala, undergo six shuffles before they are delivered,” said Dr Pawan.

A journey of a lunch box from home to office is executed using bicycles, carts at stations, trains and sometimes by walk.

A dabbawala, who handles on an average 40 lunch boxes, carries on his head an average of 60kg to 65 kg weight at a time, and they are so attuned to that lifestyle that there are no health complaints, according to Dr Pawan.

“When you enjoy your work such complaints don’t arise, and this includes stress and tension, which are common
today.”

The complex yet smoothly operated delivery system may see the introduction of technology in the form of mobile Apps.

“Customers wish to track their dabbawala on their mobile phones, and for effecting any changes in the nick of the time,” he said.

As an educationist, Dr Pawan said his contribution to the dabbawala is to educate them and their children.

Dr Pawan, who heads the Agarwal Group of Institutes, said he has set up computers resembling train carriages to motivate the dabbawalas and help them keep pace with technology.

“Food baskets and trains is their world, and to get them to step out of it, I had to use a concept that is close to their hearts.”

Dr Pawan said unless every single dabbawala is dedicated and honest, it is not possible to achieve the efficiency of service that the system has become famous for.

“They are recruited only on the guarantee of an existing employee, and they are trained not just on delivery but also on the quintessence of the business.”

The dabbawala delivers lunch and sometimes mobile phones left behind, said Dr Pawan with a laugh.

Citing an instance, he said, they have even helped exchanged a sorry note and two cinema tickets and patched up differences between a husband and wife.

“But all this without their knowledge, of course, as they do not open the lunch boxes unless they are instructed to do with a ‘share’ sticker which means the lunch was not eaten and can be given away.

The dabbawala has contributed to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by bearing relevant stickers on his trademark cap, and generating social awareness.

The Mumbai dabbawala is a cult and more. Standing tall for flawless logistics and time management, their world class reputation can be attributed to profound dedication and a code that makes sense only to them.