SUMMER INTERSHIP PROJECT REPORT

ON

“Dabbawala Employee
Satisfaction Survey”
At

Mumbai Dabbawala

SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIRMENT FOR THE DEGREE
OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BY

SHRISH PRATAP SINGH

Roll no – (0844370026)

(2008-2010)
 EXCEL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MATHURA
(U.P)
(Affiliated to U.P.Technical University,Lucknow)

ACKNOWLEDEMENT

A task undertaken without offering prayers to almighty and taking blessings from the
elders is not a good beginning. Likewise the work completed without acknowledging the
assistance to those who were always by my sides to make my efforts fruitful in the task
left incomplete.

In the beginning, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my Institute teachers for
giving me an opportunity to take the practical experience of working life.

I convey my sincere thanks to Mr Raghunath Medge or providing me the proper

guidance and Mrs. Priyankya Gautam for providing me the opportunity to carry out
research effectively and efficiently. I would also like to pay thanks to all my classmates
and friends and my family members for co-operating with me and helping me to complete
the project.

(SHRISH PRATAP
SINGH)
 PREFACE

Quality without creativity is meaningless. As changes grow ever more unpredictable

creativity is rapidly becoming recognized a core management skill.

Today’s business environment demands that managers posses a wide range of knowledge
skills and competencies, as well as sound understanding of management process and
function. Managers need to be able to make best use of their time, talent and of other
people to work with and through others to achieve corporate objectives. They also need to
demonstrate their ability not merely to solve problems, but to transform them and design
ways through them.

This report concerns needs and changing needs and their satisfaction level, which are the
important function in every organization.

SHRISH PRATAP SINGH

 DECLARATION

I SHRISH PRATAP SINGH a student of MBA of Excel School Of Business Chatta

Mathura respectively hereby declare that the Project Report on

“DABBAWALAS EMPLOYEES SATISFACION SERVEY” is the outcome of

my own work and the same has not been submitted to any other

University/Institute for the award of any degree or any Professional diploma.

(SHRISH PRATAP SINGH)

 THE RESEARCH & METHODOLOGY

THE DABBAWALLA EMPLOYEES SATISFACTION SURVEY

SR. NO. TOPICS PAGE No.

1. MEANING OF RESEARCH 63

2. IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM 63

3. DEFINE CONCEPTS 64

4. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 65

5. HYPOTHESIS 65

6. SCOPE OF STUDY 66

7 SAMPLEING 66

8 SAMPLE SIZE 66

9 DATA COLLECTION 66

10 INTERPRETATION & ANALYSATION 67

11 ANNEXURE 89

12 FINDINGS 89

13 CONCLUSIONS 91

14 RECOMMENDATION 93

15 BIBILIOGRAPHY 98

CONTENT

S. No. TOPICS PAGE No.

1. INTRODUCATION 1-10

2. WORKING OF NMTBSA 11

3. ATTITUTUD APROACH 12
4. THE ORGANISATION STRUCTURTE 14

5. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 15

6 HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE 16

ASSOCIATION

7 MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES OF THE 18

NMTBSA

8. THE SYSTEM OF SERVICE NETWORK HOW 30

THEY OPERATE

9. MANPOWER PLANNING 32

10 THE GROWTH 34

11 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES 35

12. SWOT ANALYSIS OF NMTBSA 36

13. CONCLUSION 39

SYSTEM
OF
 THE NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX

SUPPLIERS' ASSOCIATION

DABBAWALAS SATISFACION RESERARCH

SERVEY”
IS O 9 0 0 1
 TOP 50 OF I

30/07/2006
 Som
S ix S ig m a
R e c o r d GW ui
R e g i s t e r e Rd
 Founder of NMTBSA (Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box

Supplier And Association):-

Mr. Dhondiba Medge (1923-1980) - the father of Mr. Raghunath Medge (president of
NMTBSA), framed Human Resource Policy of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers'
Association.

Mr. Dhondiba Medge was educated only to 4th standard. He framed rules &
regulations of the Dabbawalas. He was very stair & disciplined kind of person. Who was
believes on "Time Is Money."

THE ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

The Dabbawala have two different aspects as considered with the mode actual operations
& mode of organizations formed by the Dabbwallas.

• To guide & manage the entire operation procedure.

• Acquition of any new customers & training a new person assigned to the
particular customer.
 INTRODUTION

Dabbawalas the carriers of Tiffin boxes daily deliver lunch boxes to lacks of office

goers in city Mumbai. The practices 119 years old in spite of complexities this

dabbawallas goes in to the delivery has been appreciated world wide among them

being BBC, MTV, CIIT, PRINCE CHARLES & BRITAIN CHAIRPERSON OF

VIRGIN AIRLINE COMPANY & OTHER TOP MANAGEMENT COMPANIES &

SCHOOLES. It is believed that system if applied to other cities like Kolkata, Delhi,

Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. will impact a major positive change the lunch

delivery system. The system runs efficiently & is in prestigious position with

achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING.

Dabbawalas fascinating. For instance the Berkeley University in California teaches

the logistic system of Dabbawalas as a case study in one of their business

management programs and many Indian business schools and industry associations

have the Dabbawala logistics system in their case-study agenda. In 1998 two Dutch

filmmakers, Jascha De Wilde and Chris Relleke, made a documentary called

"Dabbawalas, Mumbai's unique lunch service" and in 2001, the Christian Science

Monitor, the Boston-based newspaper, covered the Dabbawalas in an article called

"Fastest Food: It's Big Mac vs. Bombay's Dabbawallahs." The British Broadcasting

Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation have done features on the

delivery system as well, while Prince Charles was so impressed with their service that

he had even invited a few Dabbawalas to his marriage with Camilla Parker in

London. Yet these Dabbawalas have remained poor. "Nowhere in the world would

you find a lunch delivery service that costs as little as $9 a month," says Talekar. The

charges for this complex delivery system have remained dirt-cheap ever since its

inception, and still the maximum rate that a Dabbawala charges (depending on the

distance carried) is about $11 a month. Which is why technology is needed to

improve their lives, says Tripathy. "No doubt a major driver for establishing a Web-

based and mobile phone ordering system was the need for a central ordering facility

where one can call for a Dabbawala's service by just hitting the Web site or through

an SMS," says Tripathy, "but the other equally important driving force was to

expand business." Until recently business has come just through word-of-mouth or

from contacts made in local railway stations. "But ever since we introduced the SMS-

based ordering service we have been getting about 15 new orders every day," said

Tripathy. The Web site (www.mydabbawala.com) has also enabled the association to

solicit donations and sell merchandise, the proceeds of which go towards creation of a
social security fund to pay for the Dabbawalas' life and medical insurances. "The use

of IT would not stop there," says Tripathy, "we would be stretching its use soon to

enable the Dabbawalas to add additional lines of business." According to him the

next plan is to gear the Dabbawalas with the ability to sell groceries and other daily

necessities, the orders of which could be taken through their mobile phones.

The Great Dabbawalla

My time in Mumbai was brief but full. The city itself seems to be about as different

as could be from, Delhi. Clean, full of sky scrapers, bustling, and largely friendly.

Through a contact of a contact I was able to spend some time learning about one of

the stranger aspects of Mumbai life – the dabbawalla.

The term “dabbawalla” means something close to “boxman.” The dabbawalla are an

entire caste of people whose job is to transport home cooked lunches to their

locations at peoples’ places of work. There are 5000, largely illiterate, dabbawallas

who use a complex system of symbols and home-grown business sense to move

200,000 lunches each day. The system is near flawless (one research paper put it as

one screw up in 16 million successful deliveries) and has been going for over a

century. Almost all of these men hail from a small village a couple of hours outside of

Mumbai and because of the small town nature of things, almost all are somehow

related. The unique shape of the city and cheap train network make it affordable for

this system to work here and only here. And while it’s amazing to watch these men

scurry about doing their job, what I was interested in is how this amazingly Indian

concept has held on as long as it has. While fast food is booming as the only option
for office workers in virtually every megacity in the world, in Mumbai it is the norm

to have a fresh home cooked meal every day.

The system works a bit like this (and while I use gendered terms here the system is

becoming less so, again in an interesting way). Man leaves in the morning to go to

work at six to accommodate for the two hour commuter train to work. He wants

lunch, so his wife would have to get up at four to cook it and send it with him.

Instead, in rushes the dabbawalla, making it so that she can send off the lunch at

eleven to get to the office at one, giving her an extra five hours of sleep. You

subscribe to the service on a monthly basis – man on a bike comes by your house to

pick up your tiffin (a stainless steel box or canister which everyone uses to eat out of),

he hands it off to the next fellow at the train station, who hands it off to someone at

the next train, to a sorter, to another bike, to the office. A couple of hours later the

dabbawalla picks up the tiffin and the whole process happens again in reverse. The

average tiffin goes through the hands of five or six people in each direction. It has no

writing on it besides a few grease paint marks of x’s, o’s, and squares. Depending on

how far away you live from the office, you can get deliveries for between 150 and 400

rupees a month (three to ten USD).

Now, while this used to be all men receiving and women cooking, it has expanded lots

over the past couple of decades. Now about a quarter of the office workers receiving

lunches are women. They deliver to schools. If you want to deliver to your husband,

children, brothers, sisters, and cousins, you can send tiffins to all of them. If you have

no one at home to cook for you the dabbawalla have found homemakers who will be
willing to cook extra meals on a subscription basis so that strangers can also have a

homecooked meal and the homecooks can get a little bit of extra cash.

I am not the first or last person to marvel at this system. The whole organization

organized itself (stemming from a demand during the British rule for home cooked

meals that were British for British workers, then moving to Indians wanting their

own food too) and incorporated during the 1960s. The three heads of the

organization are former runners themselves and now give talks at major business

colleges around the world on a system of organization and efficiency which came

naturally to them.

Moving away from the marvel that it does work, it’s amazing to think about why

people want it to work. In a city which is renown for its hustle and bustle it’s

amazing to think that something as little as a home cooked meal would get this much

love and care – but it’s a sign of how people are making attempts to adapt to this way

of life while maintaining connections to their roots. While the moustachioed man

across from me on the train to Mumbai seemed rather judgemental about most of

what I am doing, he was happy to hear I would be spending time talking with the

head of the dabbawallas. When I asked Mr. Moustache why he got his lunch

delivered this way he said the most important part to him was the continuation of the

bond with his family. While he, his wife, and his children may not eat together, they

are eating the same thing. His wife knows what he likes to eat and makes it for him.

If he doesn’t finish his lunch, she’ll notice and intuit that he is ill or stressed. His

meal is coming from someone he loves and trusts and he knows that they are quality
ingredients going into his food. It’s an interesting solution to the onslaught of the fast

paced life which is overtaking India. Again and again as I continue to talk to folks,

the reason I hear that everyone is eating more wheat is because they need to have

convenience foods. It will be interesting to see if the dabbawalla will survive and how

their business and traditions evolve as the city and the workforce continues to grow.
ROUTE MAP:
 Home made food is best for health and because health is wealth. Outside junk

foods may take your life and makes you sick. Home made food keeps your doctors
1
bill down and there are fewer absences from office due to poor health. In fact bad

food is the reason #1 of all the diseases.

Home made food is cheaper. When you use Dabbawalas services to deliver your

home cooked food to your office you are actually saving your hard earned pennies.
2
The delivery charge of Rs 250 - 300 per month is very nominal and reasonable. Its

simple maths.

3 Do you not love your mother or wife and like to eat food made by her?

Even if there is no one at home to cook food for you , Dabbawalas can deliver you

good quality home like lunch through many restaurants. We have quality
4
restaurants all over Mumbai where cheap and best quality food is prepared which

is delivered at your office or home through Dabbawala Channel.

5 Safety - The Local train of Mumbai are always very crowed and it is very tough to

take even small luggage during peak times. There are instances where the person's

hand got hurt or broken and ones belongings destroyed while traveling during

peak time. People leave from their home at about 8 - 9 PM which is peak time and
 its not possible to carry Tiffin during this time and Even the food is not ready by

this time. By using our services you are getting hot food safely deliver in your

office.

Dabbawalas give reliable services and their performance and accuracy match six
6
sigma standards. You must be sure that your home cooked food reaches in time.

7 We, the Dabbawalas never go on strike.

By taking our services you are proving direct employment to 5000+ Dabbawalas
8
and many of their dependent families. You are actually helping us.

Dabbawalas are an icon in their own sense and famous world over for their
9
efficiency and by taking our services you are being part of India's image building.

Dabbawalas are from the remote villages of Maharashtra and mostly uneducated.

They regularly organize bhajan and kirtans and spread the essence of Marathi
10
culture, good will and one ness of India. Being a part of Dabbawalas , you are

actually nurturing Marathi culture

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT NMTBSA

ABOUT NMTBSA

History : Started in 1890

Charitable trust : Registered in 1956

Employee Strength : 5000

Avg. Literacy Rate : 8th Grade Schooling

Total area coverage : 60 Kms to 70 Kms

Number of Tiffin’s : 2, 00,000 Tiffin Boxes

400,000 transactions every day (including return)

I.e. 400,000*25 days*12 months= 120,000,000

(120 million or 12 crore transactions per year)

Time taken : 8 to 9 Hours

Morning 3 Hours Wartime

(9 A.M. to 12 P.M. for the Collection and Delivery)

 Working of NMTBSA

Error Rate: 1 in 16 million transactions

Six Sigma performances (99.999999)

Technological Backup: Nil.

Cost of service: Rs. 300/- to 350/- month

($6-8 £3-4, €5-6 per month)

Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space)

Earnings: Rs. 5000/- to 6000/- per month.

($125, £60, €100) per month.

Turnover per Annum (Approx). Rs. 72 to 80 Cr

Diwali Bonus: One month’s extra payment

“No Strike” record since 1890.

“No Police / Court Case” since 1890.

 ATTITUDE & APPROACH

“People study business books and then practice. We practiced first and have now

become case studies” Raghunath Medge (President)

“It’s a model of managerial & organizational simplicity” C. K. Pralhad

DISCIPLINES

• No Alcohol Drinking / Smoking during business hours.

• Wearing White Cap during business hours.

• Carry Identity Cards.

• No Leave without Prior Notice.

Code of conduct

• Rs 500- Drinking on duty

• Rs 100- Smoking on duty

• Rs 25- Not wearing white cap

• Rs 25- Not carrying ID card

• Rs 1000- Leave without intimation, sacked if repeated in 2-3 instances

DABBAWALA AS MARKETING RESOURCE

• Marketing pamphlets with the “Dabba”.

Sticker, Tag and Sample Piece of Goods with “Dabba

 THE ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICIAL
ASSOCIATION FORMED IS AS FOLLOWS:

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT
MR. RAGHUNATH D. MEDGE

VICE GENERAL TRASURER DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT SECRETARY MR. DAMODAR (9)
MR. SAMBHAJI MR. GANGARAM PINGALE
G. MEDGE L. TALEKAR

GROUP
(120)

MUKADAM MUKADAM
1 M

Dabbawala-1 Dabbawala--n Dabbawala-1 Dabbawala--n

ORGA
P R E S ID

V IC E P R
 • DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITY

• PRESEDENT

• dTaking monthly meeting

• Checking accounts of the association

• Solving the problems among the members

GENERAL SECRETARY

• drafting the various types of letters

• collecting the trust fees

MUKADAM

• supervising the functioning of the members in his group.

MEMBERS

• To deliver Tiffin Boxes to the customers & carry Tiffin Boxes back to their home
respectively.

 CORE VALUES

• Work is Worship

• Serving people is Serving God

• Annadan is Mahadan

• Time is Money

• Unity is Power
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES OF THE

ASSOCIATION

The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is registered institution.

Though it is so, it does not function as a commercial institution e.g. courier company.

The organziation is formed by the members. to avoid any disputes & give each
member pride, the employee-employer relationship is avoided. Each member is a
shareholder in the association. He gets his monthly salary from each of his customers
directly.

All the members in a group gather on a particular date of each month mostly at a
nearest local office of the organization or the trust (NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX
SUPPLIERS' CHARITABLE TRUST). all the members collect their salary together, cut
down for overheads & travel expenses. Also each member contributes amount of rupees
10;/- towards for the charity purposes.

E.g. There is the group of 15 Dabbawalas

They carry 30 dabbas each
They get Rs. 150/- customer
So calculation goes like this:
15×150×30 = 67,5000/-

So. Gross earning of this group is Rs. 67500/-

Now from this amount, a collective amount of Rs. 4000/- approximately is

deducted comprising expenses for railways pass, expenses for parking the carts & cycles
& overheads the remaining amount is divided equally into all members of the group.

So, suppose now after deductions, group has left with 63500/-; it will be divided
equally among all the members, thus each member getting Rs. 4230/- each. This salary
may not be sufficient compared to the cost of living in Mumbai also may of have their
families back in villages to send money to. To cope up, with this problem, few of the
Dabbawala have started doing some side business for extra income. Some of them after
returning home in evening drive auto-rickshaws or early in morning before going on work
distribute newspaper or milk.

The association once a month calls a meeting of all the members. In this meeting.
It tries to solve the internal problems of the members.

Such problem & solutions solved till now have laid a kind of unwritten rules &
regulations for the members of the organization to follow in certain cases.

1. In the case of loss of Tiffin Box of the Dabbawala, if he is found guilty, then the
customer is refunded the appropriate amount for the loss.

2. Each member is supposed to operate in his allocated area only & not interfere with
any of his fellow colleagues, work area. In fact normally no Dabbawala does this
too!

3. In case if the customer is not pleased with dabbawala provided to him for service,
both of them cannot co-ordinate well with each other then the organization can
shift that dabbawala to some other area & replace other dabbawala in his area.

 DISCIPLINE

• Wearing White cap during working hours.

• Reporting to duty on time.

• Behave properly & respect the customers

• Carry identity cards

 HR PRACTICES OF THE ASSOCIATION
• FLAT ORGANIZATION:

The president, Vice president, General Secretary, Treasurer & 9 no. of Directors
formed 13 members of board under which Mukadam & other Dabbawalas work.
So due to such Flat kind of organization structure decisions are taken on the spot.
Even the president & other higher categories membersalso work.

• NO HIRE & FIRE RULE:

Everyone is shareholder of the association. Whatever profits they can equally

distributed within itself. It is democratic type of organization HR Practices.

• COMMUNITY BASED RECRITMENT:

Those who have capacity to job they can apply for the Dabbawala post. There is no
any kind of basis happens related to recruitment process.

• SHARING COMMON BELIEFS, VALUES & ETHICS:

All the Dabbawalas are from poor background, the aim of the organization is
mutual benefit to all members so they follow certain values, belief & ethics to run
business effectively.

• FOLLOWING OF STRICT DRESS CODES:

All Dabbawalas must wear white cap which is called as Gandhian cap on duty.
Also wear white sadara & pyjama (shirts & pants). All Dabbawals must carry their
Identity card on duty. All these rules are bninding on all cadres of the Dabbawala.

• LOYALTY & TRUST IS THEIR MONOPOLY:

All Dabbawalas are layal & hard working in nature. They follow their norms &
promise which they made their customers.
• TRAINING PROVIDED TO NEW EMPLOYEES:

After recruitment they provide complete process training to new joiner under the
observation of Mukadam or any senior member. When they feel that new
employees are capable to work, that time training will completed.

• OWNER + EMPLOYEE IS THE DESIGNATION OF ALL:

Everyone is the shareholder of the Association. All disciplinary rules & other
ethics follow by all members. So there is no any employee & employer
relationship between each other. All are owners of the business.

• QUARTERLY MEETING TO DISCUSS ISSUES:

Every quarter all Dabbawalas meet & discuss issues related to service, salary &
future goal. They discuss balance sheet & distrbute profits among them. If any
critical issue arises that time they cal immediate meeting. Also conduct daily
meeting to handle day to day problem. All Dabbwalas can participate in meeting &
can contribute his suggestion.

MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES OF THE NMTBSA

• TEAM WORK:

Working with team is the strength of the Dabbawals. Also Team work is the key
aspect of their inner self satisfaction (proved by research). One Tiffin box goes from
many hands of the Dabbawals & finally reaches at exact destination which show success of
their Team Work.

• TIME MANAGEMENT:

They deliver Tiffin boxes before 12 pm at customer's office. There duty starts from
morning 8 am. Same time there is always lots of rush at railway station, & traffic
on the road, in such kind of critical situation they able to deliver lunch boxes on
 time. They got Six Sigma because of their Time management & no. defects in
deliveries.

• INNOVATION:

Dabbawala promote innovation. They started coding system to Tiffin box for easy
identification, which are one of the examples of their innovation strategy. They
believe on continuous improvement by way of innovation.

• CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT:

100% customer satisfaction is the success of their system. They ahieved this level
because of maintaining good relationship with customers. They believe on
“Service To Customer Is Service To God”.

• SIX SIGMA :

They have got the prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING because of
their percentage of correctness which is just perfect up to 99.999995 i.e. six
decimals or more than that. Not many of the topmost companies are even near to it.
This is simply incredibel!

• HRM System of NMTBSA :

They achieved six sigma in following aspects.

Simplified coding system

High conformity to the system

Buffer in the lead time

Confirmed by the limits of the human capabilities

• LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT :

 By using their own logistic methods they deliver lacks of tiffin boxes through
many dadowalas hand : but the final goal is to reach tiffin box before 12 pm. At
customer’s office everyday they achieve their goal.

• THE SYSTEM OF SERVICE NETWORK HOW THEY OPERATE

The dabbawalas are the whole & soul of the entire system of these operations. For
these dabbawalas to be able to provide prompt & efficient service, it is very much
important & necessary to be always on time. So you will not see any Dabbawala
moving ahead road taking his own sweet time! They are always in hurry pushing
through the crowd carefully to deliver lunches on time for lacks of mumbaiities!

The entire system involves carefully planned, organized & implemented activities
around the hour timings, but they do it with excellent associated teamwork.

We now take look in the routine course of action Dabbawalas i.e. from the time
they leave their home in the morning till the time they deliver the tiffin box back to
the customers’ home in the evening.

This cycle of operations of delivery takes them nearly 8 hrs a day very similar to
the office timings, as these takes time normally from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day starts
around 8.00-8.30 am in the morning.
 Leaving Home for the work :

• The Dabbawalas leave there homes in the morning between 7.50 am to 8.30
am depending upon from which areas they have to pick up tiffin boxes.

• The Dabbawalas reaches the customers homes according to the timing

fixed between two of them.

• The day in home then hands over the prepared & packed tiffin box to the
Dabbawala.

• Collecting 30-35 tiffin boxes (from area specified to him) is the

responsibility of each Dabbawala, but there were we can see that number of
Dabbas picked up is also dependent upon the age of the Dabbawalas.
Where a young person picks even 40 tiffin’s each, an elder person might
pick pick 30!

• Also collecting tiffin is not an easy task. Because, Dabbawalas have to pick
up tiffin boxes from various distant location in his area. These locations
may be far from each other located on higher floors of the building where
sometimes elevator may not be available.

• These tiffin boxes are then taken to the nearest local station by vehicle.
Usually a bicycle or in long wooden creates carried on the head! Eg. If a
Dabbawala a collecting Tffin boxes from area of Ghatkopar then he will
carry them to Ghatkopar or Vikhroli railway station whichever is nearer
from his area of collecting Tiffins
WHAT IS LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN

MANAGEMENT

• What is logistics?

• A widely adopted textbook defines logistics management as follows: "the

process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow

and storage of goods, services, and related information from point of origin to

point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer

requirements" (D. Lambert 1998).

• What is supply chain management (SCM)?

• A typical definition of supply chain management is the following: ¡°A supply

chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the

functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into

intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished

products to customers¡± (Ganeshan & Harrison 1995

• 5 R’s of logistics

• Where should logistics start and where should it end? Again different views

exist on this question. Some say that logistics commences with finished

product from the end of production line to the consumer, or to get the right

goods to the right place, at the right time, in the right form and at the right

cost.
• MANAGEMENT NMTBSA HOW USE LOGISTICS &

SUPPLY CHAIN

• By using their own logistic methods they deliver lacks of Tiffin Boxes through

many Dabbawalas hand but the final goal is to reach Tiffin box before 12 pm.

At customer’s office. Every day they achieve their goal.

• THE SYSTEM OF SERVICE NETWORK HOW THEY

OPERATE

• The Dabbawalas are the whole & soul of the entire system of these operations.

For these Dabbawalas to be able to provide prompt & efficient service, it is

very much important & necessary to be always on time, so you will not see

any Dabbawala moving ahead road talking his own sweet time. They are

always in hurry pushing through the crowd carefully to deliver lunches on

time lacks of Mumbaities.

• The entire system involves carefully planned, organized & implemented

activities around the hour timings, but they do it with excellent associated

teamwork.

• We now take look in the routine course of action Dabbawalas i.e. from the

time they leave their home in the morning till the time they deliver the Tiffin

box back to the customer’s home in the evening.

• This cycle of operations of delivery takes them nearly 8 hrs a day very similar

to the office timings as these takes time normally from 9 a.m. the day starts

around 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. in the morning.

• LEAVING HOME FOR THE WORK

• The Dabbawalas leave there homes in the morning between 7:50 a.m. To 8:30

a.m. depending upon from which areas they have to pick up Tiffin boxes.

• The Dabbawalas reaches the customer’s homes according to the timing fixed

between two of them.

• The day in home then hands over the prepared & packed Tiffin box to the

Dabbawala.

• Collecting 30-35 Tiffin boxes (from area specified to him) is the responsibility

of each Dabbawala. But there were we can see that number of Dabbas picked

up is also dependent upon the age of the Dabbawalas. Where a young person

picks even 40 Tiffin’s each, an older person might be pick 30 Tiffin’s.

• Also collecting Tiffin’s is not is easy task. Because, Dabbawalas have to pick

up Tiffin’s boxes from various distant location in his area. These locations
 may be far from each other located on higher floors of the building where

some time elevator may not be available.

• These Tiffin’s boxes are then taken to the nearest local station by vehicle.

Usually a bicycle’s or in wooden creates carried on the head. Eg- If a

Dabbawalas collecting Tiffin’s boxes from area of Ghatkoper then he will

carry them to Ghatkoper or Vikhroli railway station which ever is nearer

from his area of collecting Tiffin’s.

• Sorting & Loading Of The Tiffin’s Boxes 09:30a.m.-11:30a.m.
• The Dabbas are sorted by the Dabbawalas on the railway stations. Where a

group of 10-15 Dabbawalas from the same station but from the different

locations have picked up Tiffin’s boxes. On the railway station, first sorting of

Tiffin boxes takes place i.e. Tiffin to be delivered in one particular area are

assembled together & staked wooden crates. These are then carries by

Dabbawalas handling those particular areas.

• After sorting, Tiffin’s boxes are loaded in wooden crates in railway’s luggage

compartment or on bicycle depending upon the way in which Dabbawalas

who is going to carry them & what is his destination area (the Dabbawalas

who is going to carry the Tiffin’s destined to be delivered at station’s where

first sorting is done, he only will carry them on bicycle.)

• Mumbai railway has provided luggage compartment in railways, but the

luggage compartment in the morning time is very crowded. But then too these

Dabbawalas make way through it & find a place for themselves & their

crates.

• So in the morning peak hours the luggage compartment in the train is

crowded with 20-25 Dabbawalas & 700-800 Tiffin’s along with them.
•
• 11:30a.m. to 12:30P.m.
• Distribution of Tiffin boxes To the Final Destination
• These times slot is very important, as the service delivery has to be started in

this time only to complete it in all allocated locations to all given customers.

After resorting process the Dabbawalas set off for the delivery of Tiffin’s

boxes to the customer’s. Each one of them is assigned on a particular location

or block of customer’s work place say one road etc. that person undertakes

the responsibility to deliver the lunch boxes in that particular assigned area

irrespective of where the Tiffin’s boxes has come from, which person is

initially collected it & to which group of Dabbawalas that person belongs to .

Who is Mukadam of that group etc. in this time slot if we observe we will see

all the Dabbawalas rushing carefully through crowds on the roads to reach to

the customer’s work place.

• Generally if offices lunchtime is from 1:00pm. To 2:00pm. So it is very

important that lunch box has to be delivered to the customer before his lunch

time.

• These Dabbawalas have the lunch at the premises of offices near by where

they are delivers Tiffin’s boxes if their associations office is not easily

reachable.

• 1:00p.m. to 2: p.m.
• The Dabbawalas in the same areas of delivery gather at the nearest

association office & have their lunch. Otherwise they have their lunch in the

vicmity of the offices premises where they have just delivered the lunch boxes.

• 2:00p.m. to 2:30p.m.
• Now the Dabbawalas return to their customer’s workplace to collect the

empty Tiffin’s boxes. The whole process goes back again but in the reverse

order.

• 2:45p.m. to 3:30p.m.
• The return journey by the train where the group finally meets up after the

day’s routine to dispatching & collecting from various destinations offices.

• Usually, since it is more of a pleasant journey compared to the earlier part of

the day. The Dabbawalas lighten up the moment with merry making, joking

around & singing.

• 3:30p.m. to 4:00p.m.
• This is the stage where final sorting & dispatch take place. The group meets

up at origin station & they finally sort out the Tiffin’s as per the origin

areas.
•
•

•
C o d in g
V L P : V ile P a
Mum ba

9 E X 1: C2 o d e f o
a t D e s ti
 MANPOWER PLANING

Day to day their number of customer are increasing simultaneously they increase their
manpower too. They don't have any criteria about recruitment of Dabbawala. They have
some poets which new recruit Dabbawala should follow these rules are as follows.

• First few month he has to work under the supervision of senior person or
mukadam.

• He must wear which sadara (shrit), while pant (Gandhi topi) & white cap at the
time of working.

• He should be physically fit to carry Tiffin boxes

• He should maintain good relation which customer

• He should be punctual

• He should be able to work with team

• He should has to give prior information to the association before going on leave.
 LEAVES

NMTBSA has segregated annual leave on two types

1. Weekly Leave:

All Dabbawala gets weekly leave on every Sunday.

2. Festival Leave:

All Dabbawallas are devotees of lord Shiv shankaras & vitthalas so

NMTBASA only sanctioned leaves for those festivals which are celebrated for their God.

• Mahashivaratri (Festival of Shiv Shankaras)

• Aashadhi Ekadashi (Festival of Lord vitthalas)

• Kartiki Ecakashi (Festival of Lord Vitthalas)

• Chaitra Pournima (New Year of Marathi People)

• Diwali (2 days) (Festival of Lights)

 THE GROWTH

YEAR NUMBER OF DABBAWALAS NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS

1900 58 1445
1905 75 1965
1910 142 4120
1915 204 6504
1920 321 9675
1925 407 12140
1930 695 22865
1935 1024 43230
1940 1206 4340
1945 1715 64240
1950 2106 82000
1955 2552 105120
1960 3216 140000
1965 4406 198100
1970 4605 176040
1975 4904 215000
1980 5551 27507
1985 5524 190645
1990 5102 130860
1995 5180 142260
2000 5164 16670
2005 5142 175040
2006 5150 175060
2007 5200 187080
2008 5220 190900
2009 5300 200000
 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILIES

• Started D "armashala in Bhimashankar district in the year 1930

• Maharashtra government prorogates HIV awareness through Dabbawalas channel

• Innovative workplace programmes caries HIV prevention messages:

Indian & Americans in partnership to fight HIV/AIDS plan consist of

reaching Mumbai office workers with HIV/AIDS prevention message in
their lunch bases through Dabbawala network is the innovative programme
supported by the emergency plan. On world AIDS day 2005, the project
delivered lunches containing information about HIV/AIDS as
approximately 2 lacks office goers the 5000 Dabbawalas delivered lunch
boxes. The emergency plant supported efforts of the Dabbawala association
to include in the lunches creatively designed materials & coasters bearing
messages reflecting the World AIDS Day theme "Stop AIDS, Keep The
Promise."

In addition to theses world AIDS Day activities the programme works

throughout the year to reach out to corporations to address HIV/AIDS in
the workplace.

“STOP AIDS, KEEP THE PROMISE”

 SWOT ANALYSIS OF NMTBSA

STRENGTH

 Low operational cost

 Customer satisfaction

 Low attrition rate

 Flat organization

 Team spirit & team management

WEAKNESS

 Limited access to education

 Funds for the association

 No social security to members

OPPORTUNITY

 Operational cost is low

 Wide range publicity

THREAT

 Job satisfaction level of new generations

 Competition

 Canteen facility provided by corporate firm.

 Hon. Shri
Chairman of Virginn Atlan
 Conclusion :

Managing more than 5000 Dabawalas daily is really increased! So what kind of
Human resource policy they have adopted & how do they implemented it, was the
objective behind these report. Which are satisfactory completed, & I got some key
formulas, principles of their effective Human resource management system from this
project work.

The lacks of office goers, 5000 Dabbawalas & risky job schedules, all these kind
of problems they are able to handle only due to their efficient Human resource
management system. Mr. Dhondiba Medge formed Human Resource Policy for Nutan
Mambai Tiffin Box Suppliers' Association. He set core values for the Association, these
improved their system.

The key feature of their Human Resource Management is Flat organizational

structure. These are able to maintainno communication barriers from top level to lower
level. All Dabbawalas are employer of the association, there has no any employee-
employer relation. This thing is them motivational factor behind their job satisfaction.
Effective delegation of authority helps them to do work effectively. From top level to
lower level Dabbawalas know their work & their target which helps to effective job
specification.

They have implemented Human Resource Policy in their organization, these

contains strict disciplinary rules of employment, dress code & effective training &
development facility to new joiners.

They follow management principles in their organization such as Team work,

Time management, Innovation, Cstomer relationship management & six sigma. Because
of these they called as "Management Guru".
 Human resource policy, Manpower planning. Training & Development,
Disciplinary Code of conduct & their Corporate Social Responsibility activity are the key
result areas of their Human Resource Management system.

Their daily earning is not sufficient to fulfill their basic needs but whatever they
earn out of from it some amount they spend in FSR activities. 'We are the part of society
which provides many resources to us, so it is our prime duty to give back to society'-these
CSR principle they follow.

The organization has gained a lot of appreciation from foreign countries but it still
in some ways or other not fully appreciated by its own countrymen. Organization can do a
lot to perform better but it needs support & word appreciation frim its own countrymen. It
so, it will even leave back the top world0running entrepreneurs & give India a place of
pride on the world map.
STUDY OF SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY IN NUTAN
MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS ASSOCIATION

TOPICS PAGE NO.

1 SIX SIGMA 41

2 INTRODUTION ABOUT THE SUBJECT 42

3 WHAT IS SIX SIGMA? 43

4 PRACTICAL MEANING OF SIX SIGMA 45

5 ESSENTIAL OF THE SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY 46

6 WHY SIX SIGMA TO NMTBSA? 47

7 SIX SIGMA STATISTICAL MODEL 50

8 CONCLUSION 61
 STUDY OF SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY

IN

NUTAN MUMBAI TIFFIN BOX SUPPLIERS

ASSOCIATION

A STRATEGY FOR PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

 SIX SIGMA
The distribution system is handled by almost illiterate or as we can say semi
literate people. Most of them uneducated or just servant or just fourth grade passed but this
note make any different to them. Yet the system runs efficiently and is in prestigious
position with achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING! It prodoudly shares this position
with world famous giant management corporate like GE, MOTOROLA (Source: Forbes
magazine U.S.A.).

The reason behind this is the wonderful work system offered by them with only 0.01%
error rate in comparison with the huge number of operations it induleges inot. They have
got the prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA RSTING because of their percentage of
correctness which is just perfect up to 99.999995 i.e. six decimals or more than that. Not
many of the topmost companies are even near to it. This is simply incredible.

Though they have achieved SIX SIGMA RATING & a wide popularity, it cannot be
neglected that the operations completely involve physical hard work & coping up with
common modes of transport. he crowded modes of transport, traffic &roads, continuous
physical work-it is not too easy. And we have even six p-seventy years old patrons doing
it for a living. These are the people who treat customer as GOD & run whole of their life
for their GOD.

Six Sigma is a philosophy and a methodology focused on defect reduction.

Six Sigma provides a methodology and tool set

that can be used to identify and reduce defects

INTORDUCTION ABOUT THE SUBJECT

Six Sigma best described as a journey, a journey for business professional who are truly
committed to improving productivity and profitability. Six Sigma isn't theretical; it's an
active, hands on practice that gets results. In short, you don't contemplate six sigma; you
do it.

The six sigma story began in the 1980 at Motorola, where it was first developed and
proven. In 1983 reliability engineer bill smith concluded that if a product was defective
and corrected during the production, then other defects were probably being missed and
later found by fustomers. In other words, process failure rates were much higher than
indicated completely fre defects; they probably wouldn't fail customers later.

Six sigma statistically measures and reflects true procees capability, correlating to such
characteristic as defects per unit and probabilities of success or failure. Its value is in
transforming culture outlooks from complacency to accomplishment across the spectrum
of industry.

Most companies function at four sigma tolerating 6210 defects per one million
opportunities. Operating at six sigma creates an almost defect free environment allowing
only 3.4 defects per one million opportunities: products and services are nearly perfect
(99.9997%) eliminating defects eliminates dis-satisfaction.

This all sounds good in theory, but how do you put it into practice? Well six sigma is
about arming your human "assets" with the training, resources, and knowledge to solve
problems. It's also about taking a leadership journey to guide those assets toward ever-
increasing achievement. Six sigma asks hard questions about your processes and gets the
data that supports them. It provides solutions that fit your unique processes.

Letter in the Greek alphabet (o)

WHAT IS SIX SIGMA?

Six Sigma is statistical concept that measures a process in terms of defects. Achieving six
sigma means your processes are delivering only 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

In other words, they are working nearly perfectly. Sigma is a term in statistics that
measures something called standard deviation. In its business use it indicates defects in the
out-puts of a process, and helps us to understand how far the process deviates form
perfection.

The central idea of six sigma management is that if you can measure the defects in a
process, you can systematically figure out ways to eliminate them, to approach a quality
level of zero defects.

So in short, six sigma is several things :

• A statistical basis of measurement 3.4 defects per milion opportunities.

• A philosophy and goal: as perfect as practically possible

 • A symbol of quality.

Six Sigma value is a metric that indicatesiliow well a process forming

PRACTICAL MEANING OF SIX SIGMA

• Letter in the Greek alphabet (o)

• "Sigma" is a measure of the variation or spread within a process.

• The sigma value is a metric that indicates how well a process is performing.

• Six Sigma is a methodology to drive process improvements by focusing on defect

elimination.

• In Six Sigma philosophy, sigma is a common language that indicates how often
defects occur in a process.

• Focusing on sigma (o) requires through process understanding & breakthrough

thinking.

• Six sigma (o) a methodology & tool set that can be used to identify & reduce
defects.

• Six Sigma provides bottom line results improving the condition of the business.

• Six Sigma utilizes the team approach to process improvement, gaining employee
participation, knowledge, and support.

• Six Sigma is a continuous improvement process, striving ever closer to perfection

and allowing no complacency with success.

• Six Sigma is both a methodology and a metric.

• Six Sigma focuses on addressing the needs of the customer.

 • Six Sigma provides a structured approach to under standing and improving
processes.

There are some levels in six sigma process which calls "Six sigma" levels these are as
follows

Sigma level (process capability) Defects per million Opportunities

2 308,537
3 66,807
4 6210
5 233
6 3.4

Practical Meaning of 99% Good

30 Capability 93.92% Historical Standard

40 Capability 99.38% Recent Standard

60 Capability 99.99966% Industry Vision

ESSENTIAL OF THE SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY-

The six sigma methodology uses statistical tools to identify the vital few factors, the
factors that matter most for improving the quality of processes and generating bottom-line
results. It consists of four steps :

• Process Characterization

1) measure (What)
• Identify Project Scope/Goal

• Define Key process Elements

• Establish Process Capability

• Validate Measurement System

What is the frequency of Defects?

• Define the defect

• Define performance standards

• Validate measurement system

• Establish capability metric

2) Evaluate (Where, When, Wyh)

• Benchmark Process Entitlement

• Data Analysis

• Determine Critical Factors

Where, when and why do Defects occur?

• Identify sources of variation

• Determine the critical process parameters

Process Optimization

3) Improvement (How)

• Develop Improvement Plan

 • Understand/Optimize Vital Process Elements

• Reduce Variation/Defects

• Verify Impact

How can we improve he process?

• Screen potential causes

• Discover relationships

• Establish operating tolerances

Were the improvements effective?

• Re-establish capability metric

4) Control (Sustain, Leverage)

• Implement Long Term Control Plan

• Leverage toSimilar Products/Processes

• Document & Standardize

How can we maintain the improvements?

• Implement process control mechanisms

• Leverage project learning's

• Document & Proceduralize

We should note that six sigma methodologies are nongid. Approaches vary, sometimes
significantly. One of the variations is in the phases. Same approaches use all five of the
phases listed above. while others not include the define phase. Six sigma professionals
recognize that this approach is a kind of roadmap for improvement, this is the tool which
helps managers and employees to understand and improve critical processes.
ROADMAP FOR PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

Six Sigma Methodology

This strategy is supported by two Six Sigma sub-methodologies called DMAIC (Define,
Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control), and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyse,
Design, Verify). DMAIC shown in Fig. is an improvement system for existing processes
which fall below specifications and need to be improved incrementally. DMADV is also
an improvement system which is designed to develop new processes and/or products at
Six Sigma quality levels. In both sub-methodologies and Six Sigma in general, the
objective is to continually find ways to improve and refine processes, reduce defects and
increase savings.

This 'problem-solving' phase is called DMAIC.

 First projects are defined from the perspective of customers or regarding process (Define).
Second based on the defined projects, the current level of the product quality is measured
into sigma level (Measure). Third causes of the problems are detected through the analysis
so as to improve the sigma level (Analyse). Fourth efforts are made to improve the
situation by working with the causes of the problems (Improve). Finally the optimal
condition generated by the above mentioned phases are controlled, maintained and
monitored (Control)

DMAIC Cycle

Define
1. Identify project that is
measurable
2. Develop team charter
3. Define process map

Define
Control Measure
1. Ensure that the result 1. Define performance
is sustained standards
2. Share the lessons 2. Measure current level
learnt of quality into Sigma

Control Measure

Improve
1. Screen potential Improve Analyse Analyse
causes 1. Establish process
2. Discover variable capability
relationship 2. Define performance
3. Establish operating objectives
3. Identity variation
sources
 Define Measure

Control DMAIC CYCLE

Analyses

Improve

DMAIC Cycle

Step 1 : Define

• Identify the project that are measurable.

• Projectes are defined including the demands of the customer and process.

It is the initial stage of starting the project and the most significant step

Step 2 : Measure

• The current level of quality is measured into Sigma level.

• It precisely pinpoints the area causing problems. It forms the basis of the problem
solving.

• Project defects must be precisely defined and all possible and potential causes for
such problems must be identified in thbis step.

• Subsequetnly such problems are analysed statistically.

 •

Step 3: Analysis

• In this step, when and where the defect occurs in investigated. Projects are
statistically analysed and the problems are documented.

• Major elements to be performed in tha 'Analysis' step are as follows.

• Projects must be statistically and precisely defined int terms of

Sigma.

• the gap between the ttarget and the actual state is clearly defined in
statistical terms like mean and moving average.

• A comparehensive list of the potential casues of the problems is

created.

• Statistical analysis is carried out to reduce the potential casuese into

few causes.

• Finally based on abofe swteps, the finacial implication of the

project is calculated and furteher review is carried out if necessary.

Tools for analysis

• Process mapping

• Failure Mode & Effect Analysis

• Statistical Tests

• Design of Experiments

• Control charts
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
Step 4: Improve

• Improvements for the potential casuses identified in the Analysis step is carried out in this step.
Solutions to all the potentials problems must be found.

• The choices are how to change, fix and modify the process.

• A trial run must be carried out for a planned period of time to esnsure the reviesion
and improvements implemented in the process result in achieving the sugeted
values. The step are repeated if necessary.

Step 5: Control

• Proper control and mainteance of the improved states are estabilshed in thbis steop.
It is also a step to regularize the new method.

• The results and accomplishments of all the improvement activities are documented
There is continuous monitoring of where the improved process well maintained.

WHY SIXSIGMA TO NMTBSA?

Having discussed the reasons why a suply clain like the NMTBSA can successful,
we need to further look into the reasons that contribute towards the system to be extermely
efficient, the following are the major ones.

• Simplified coding system

• High conformity to the system

• Buffer in the lead time

• Confirmede by the limits of the human capabilities.

 PICTURE OF CODING

Coding System
VLP : Vile Parle (subu
Mumbai)

9EX12 : Code for Dabba


at Destination
SIMPLIFIED CODING SYSTEM :

The system employes extermely a simple coding system. The cooding system has been

EX : Express Tower
explained in the exhibit II. It completely specifies the location as well as the person
who is to carry to box. It also simplifies the sorting at the residential & destination

(building name)
locations. Thus, it ensures a coplete flawless system. Any scope of flaw now lies only
in sorting & the delivery, which can be managed becaue there are more people
involved in it, which remove the scope of errors.

12 : Floor no.
At first when number of tiffin boxes were less, the Tiffin's were tied with a colored
thread or wires to be identifies properly. But as the time passed & number of Tiffin's to

E : Code for Dabba

at residential st
be delivered startede increasing, this system of coding was found to be insufficient and
inappropriate.

So, in the early 1970's the association decided to implement new system of working
where Tiffin box codes & markings were uniform.

This coding system can be explained life this Each Tiffin box has a certain unique
code painted on the top of the lid of the Tiffin box. The code donsists of the alphabets,
numbers & even colours. This includes.

• Wher a Tiffin box is origainally picked from

• Were in ha to be given

• When is the Dabbawala who is finally going to deliver it.

• Which group of Dabbawala does the tiffin boxes belong to

(In case of more number of Tiftin boxes tobe delivered in same area of location)

THIS CODING SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLAINED MORE IN DETAIL WITH HELP

OF AN EXAMPLE

BO 9
A 10 M
16
Here the circle represents the top of the lid of the Tiffin box.
"BO" indicates "BORIVALI" which is the station of the pick-up of the Tiffin box.
"A" indicates the code given to be the Dabbawala or group of Dabbwalas the member of
which group picks-up the Tiffin box initially from the customer's house.
These codes are A,B.C, etc. according to the groups. When on each residential railway
station there are more than two groups of the Dabbawala. Each group is given in a colour
painted on the top of the lid of the Tiffin boxes. Often the codes are written in their full
forms also.
The number "10" indicates the main area of the destination location. The number 10
prevailing in the current system is allocated to the area of "Nariman Point".
The number "9" on the right hand side indicates the main loction of the Nariman Point &
also the number of the Dabbawala handling delivery in the particular area.
"M" stands forthe "Mittal Tower".
"16" stands for the th16th floor on which the .......... the customer is located & Dabbawala
has to deliver the Tiffin boxes.
HIGH CONFIRMITY IN THE SYSTEM
The system operates in such a manner that every individual has personal interest in
confirming to the basic principles & discipline. He understands that when he delivers
someone else Tiffin's are being distributed by someone else. And that is a reason why he
conforms to the norm. His participation in the system in ensured by the peer's participation
This interlock in the system ensures a greater responsibility & thus a better performance.
The philosophy of the Dabbawala is do your work honestly & be satisfied with the
philosophy of the Dabbawala is - do your work honestly & be satisfied with what you get
satisfied & happy- all of them are of a very simple nature just trying to do their job
perfectly. They call the customer "GOD" & consider their service to the God. Not affected
by artificiality, misconduct & unethical ways of living life, they represent then class of the
simple good-natured human beings who are always on their toes for others.

BUFFER IN THE LEAD TIME

The system is main with a buffer in the lead-time. The Dabbwalas pick-up the
lunch boxes between 9:30am-10:00am & deliver at around 12:30 pm. To 13:00 pm So
they have around 2.5 to 3 hours to get the box delivered. Mostly it only takes the
Dabbawala around 30 to 45 minutes to collect the boxes, & bring then to the station.
Depending on which area the boxes are collected, it takes between 30-45 minutes to
deliver. So there is actually put in a time slack, so even if the Dabbawala misses the
planned train, he will still be able to deliver the lunch boxes in time. So one most days the
Dabbawalas have waiting time, when they arrive to their delivery station. Which they
utilize through sufficient time in sorting. If all goes as a planned they have about 30
minutes to an hour before delivery. It is this time slack that is part of the reason, for the
very high percentages delivery on time.
Because even if some minor incident happened, like if their bi-cycle should get a
flat tire or so, there is still time to fix it, & still deliver on time. So we see the time slack as
Necessity, to keep in the impressive on-time delivery statistics.
CONFIRMED BY THE LIMITS OF HUMAN CAPABILITY:
The system is designed, to the capabilities of the Dabbwalas. They have made the
system so each person, doesn't have to remember more then 30-40 places to collect &
delivery. This number is partly picked as a result of two things. First of all because of the
time available & second, & may be more important. This is the number they have found to
remember & distinguish for most of the employees.
As mentioned there is a certain buffer in the lead-time, which allows for a
Dabbawala collecting & distributing more lunch boxes. But this would make it more
difficult for the Dabbawals to remember the address, & would late deliveries. So.part of
success as we see it, is due to the recognition of the human capabilities & the recognition
of the need for a time buffer in the lead-time.
Six Sigma Statistical Model

Sigma Project by
statistic project
approach
Sigma Statistical Six Sigma Improvement Organizational
measure model initiative process infrastructure

Core
Performance competencies
benchmark
 CONCLUSION

The Dabbawala system of one of its own kind, unique to Mumbai, extraordinary in
operations, run by less educated people but higher in achievement on performance scale
than the leaders in management field & the country's topmost joint ventures. They might
not have the huge capital & assets like others. They are the winners. They have their
greatest asset-the satisfaction of their performance & trying to follow them in their own
countries. Such is the system India is proud of?
They have prestigious achievement of SIX SIGMA rating the term used for the
percentage of correctness which is just perfect, up to 99.999995 i.e. six decimals or more
than that. Not many of the topmost companies are even near to it. This is simply
incredible!
It is a disciplined, data-driven methodology focused on eliminating defects. A six
Sigma defect is defined as anything that falls outside of a customer's specifications. The
results reported below by six sigma companies are convincing about its contribution to
industry. The Six Sigma methodology and fundamental objective is to implement a
measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction.
Six Sigma is a term used in manufacturing process improvement methodologies
and it refers to the variability of a process.
Six Sigma has roots back to the teachings of Dr. Joseph Suran and Dr. W.
Ewwards Deming (Thawani, 2004). Six Sigma is a high performance, data driven method
for improving quality by removing defects and their causes in business process activities.
The higher the number of sigma's, the more consistent is the process output or the smaller
the variation. It is particularly powerful when measuring the performance of a process
with a high volume of outputs. Six Sigma links customer requirements and process
improvements with financial results while simultaneously providing the desired speed,
accuracy and agility in today's e-age.
In 1998, Forbes Global magazine conducted a qualities assurance study on the
Dabbawalas operations and gave it an accuracy rating of 99.999999 more then Six Sigma.
The Dabbawalas made one error in six million transactions. That put then on the list of Six
Sigma rated companies, along with multinationals like Motorola and GE. There was only
one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries.
 The BBC has produced a documentary on Dabbawalas and Prince Charles, during
his visit to India, visited them (he had to fit in with their schedule since their timing was to
precise to permit any flexibility).
Although the services remains essentially with one barefoot delivery boys as the
prime movers, the Dabbawalas have started to embrace technology, and now allow
booking for delivery through SMS. A web site mydabbawala.com has also been added to
allow for online booking, in order to keep up with the times. An online poll on the website
ensure that customer feedback is given pride of place. The success of the system depends
on teamwork and time management. Such is the dedication and commitment of the barely
literate and barefoot delivery boys who form links in the extensive delivery chain, that
there is no system of documentation at all. A simple colour coding system doubles as an
ID system for the destination and recipient.

A gauge of quality and efficiency, Six Sigma is also a measure of excellence.

Embarking on a Six Sigma programme means delivering top-quality service and products
while virtually eliminating all internal inefficiencies. A true Six Sigma organization
produces not only excellent product but also maintains highly efficient production and
administrative processes, Six Sigma may mean not only the obvious reduction of cycle
time during production but, more importantly, optimizing response time to inquiries,
maximizing the speed and accuracy with which inventory and materials are supplied, and
fool proofing such support process from errors, inaccuracies and inefficiency.
The primary factor in the successful implementation of Six Sigma project is to
have the necessary resources, the support and leadership of top management, customer
requirements identified explicitly, and a comprehensive training programme.Six Sigma's
DMAIC structure of problem solving is its ability to analyse, improve and control
processes with an emphasis on the ability to measure the performance. Deployment of Six
Sigma is best achieved through the defined projects. Success of a Six Sigma project
depends on buy-in by the entire organization, deployment of the process, effective training
and key measurements.
Lucas has thus concluded that:
"Current Business System + Six Sigma = Total Quality Management"
 THE RESEARCH & METHODOLOGY

THE DABBAWALA SATISFACTIONS SURVEY

Meaning of Research

Research is a common parlance which refers to search for knowledge. Research is

scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact
research is an art of scientific investigation.
It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study observation and experiment. Thus
research refers to the systematic method consisting of intimating the problem, formulating
hypothesis, collecting the facts or data.
Research means a careful search or inquiry or an endeavour to discover facts by
study or by investigation. Research methodology has become unavoidable, when there is a
problem, one search for the causes of that problem and the way in which the problem can
be solved.
Research is defined as the scientific and systematic search for information on a
specific topic. According to Clifford Woody, "research comprises of defining and
redefining of problem, formulating hypothesis and suggestion solutions, organizing and
evaluating data, carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the
formulating hypothesis."
The purpose of research is do discover answers to question through application of
scientific procedures.

Identification of Problem :
The Tiffin box service provider - Mumbai Dabbawala has been working from 115
years. Yet the system runs effificnetly & is in prestigious position with
achievement of SIX SIGMA RATING!

The research has conducted to solve following Problem :-

 • The first problem is to know the job satisfaction level of the Dabbawala.

• Previously many B-schools has done project on Dabbawalas service,

they appreciated the service of the Dabbawala but in the conclusion they
stated that the six sigma service providers are poor & not job satisfied
workers. So to know practically & statistically job satisfaction level of
the Dabbawala.

• To know about their demands which they want to fulfill.

Define concepts :
This research work gives full fledge knowledge about satisfaction levele of the
Dabbawala. This satisfaction level judge under four parameter, these are as follows
:

Financial level :

• Dabbawala are financially sound or not.

• Whatever salary they drawn which are able to solve their basic
necessities or not.

• To know about, effect of financial level on job satisfaction.

Family level :

• Dabbawala family consist his spouse, children's, parents which are

totally depends on them.

• Each & every Dabbawala first aim is to fulfill demands of their

family members.

• Sometimes they do dual job to fulfill their basic family needs, So, to
know about effect of Family level aspect on their job satisfaction
level.
Personal level :

• Some customers also want service on Sundays & public holidays so

as per the customer wish Dabbawala provides services on those
days by keeping asides their personal interest.

The Dabbawala satisfaction Survey

• New generation are well educated but unemployment compel them

to do same business.

• So, to know effect of self satisfaction of Dabbawala on their job

satisfaction level.

Social level :

• The nature of the work is totally field work & there is large chances
of happening uncertain events like acciderts, health problems etc.

• In such kind of situation the critical problem they are facing about
security of their social life.

Objective of Study :

• To study job satisfaction level of Dabbawala

Hypothesis :

• Is there win-win situation of satisfaction level from both side i.e.

(customers & Dabbawala)

• Understand interrelation between risk & satisfaction level.

 • Understand the relation between two variables like satisfaction level
& motivation.

Scope of study :

• Location is NMTBSA office at grant road station west of Mumbai

suburban area.

Sampling :
• Survey method of research is used & as per survey method
questionnaire is formed.

• Questionnaire is design in a local language (Marathi) which is able

to understand them.

• The all type of Dabbawala who are working in different categories

in the association has selected for sampling.

SAMPLE SIZE :
• Out of 55 samples, 50 samples of Dabbawalas who filled all question in the
questionnaire are selected.

• The Dabbawalas who are working from more than a year with association are
selected.

DATA COLLECTION :
• Data are collected from primary source

• Method of data collection is survey & questionnaire. (questionnaire are design in a

local language which are understood by most of the Dabbawals)
 • In editing work the questionnaires which are not completely filled up are rejected
also the Dabbawala who has less than 1 year experience their feedback also not
considered.

• Under coding system 16 question are framed in one question form, consist "yes-
no" type questions; "objective" type questions & few are "brief" questions.

INTERPRETATION & ANALYSATION

Here in this part, we are going to analyse the data collected through the answers
given by the Dabbawals to the questions in the questionnaire. For the purpose, fifty
Dabbawals were given the questionnaire to fill. In the course they were also asked the
reasons for the particular answers to the subject questions.

The Dabbawalls review include all type of the Dabbawala from normal Dabbawals
to mukadam (team leader); also interact with president, vice president, secretary, treasurer
to collect full information related to research work.

The data or the answer to the questions reflects the view of the customers
regarding various aspects such as :

• Their monthly income

• Any social security cover

• Their work experience

• Job satisfaction level
 ABOUT EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

EDUCATION No. OF DABBAWALA PERCENTAGE

0 06 12%

1-4 09 18%

5-7 09 18%

8-10 22 44%

11-12 04 8%

ABOUT EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

8% 12%

18%
44%

18%

0 1-4 5-7
 ABOUT EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

The purpose of this question was to know about their educational background. The
Dabbawals service appreciated by Britain prince Charles, Virgin Atlantic airline chairman
Sir Richard Branson. Dabbawalas are not high educated individual but there I.Q.
(Intelligent Quotient) level is high.

They have more than 5000 Dabbawals strength, which are capable to deliver lunch
boxes to 2 lacks customers.

Out of 50 Dabbawalas interview, 8% of Dabbawals are not educated, they didn't go

to but they know entire coding system which is in English language, also able to sign in
the muster roll.

18% of Dabbawalas lies in 1st to 4th standard education 5th to 7th standard schooling
education qualification lies by 18% Dabbawalas.

Majority of Dabbawalas lies in 8th-10th standard educational qualification, their

percentage is 44%.

Only 8% Dabbawalas lies in 11th & 12th standard qualification.

Mr. Raghunath Medge- President of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier's

Association & chairman of Dakkhan Mavle Sahakari Patpedhi Mumbai, also Contractor of
Tiffin Box Suppliers & School Bus Service has completed their Graduation from Mumbai
University.

The coding system founder Mr. Raghunath Medge play a big role in filling up an
educational gap of Dabbawalas.
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH
NMTBSA?

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

1-5 13 26%

6-10 14 28%

11-15 09 18%

16-20 06 12%

21-25 03 06%

26 & ABOVE 05 10%

10%
6% 26%
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
12% 3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
5th Qtr
6th Qtr
18%
28%
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH
NMTBSA?

The object behind to ask this question is as follows :

• The answer will give details of exact no. of people who are loyal with the
association.

• The criteria for this research project is to take interview of those Dabbawalas who
has completed more than one year service, So-this question help to sort our sample
for research.

• The question helps to know about the no. of younger generation's entry in this
profession.

• The suggestions of experience Dabbawalas are very fruitful so I get to know their
numbers.

There are 26% of Dabbawalas which lies in 1 to 5 yrs of experience.

The total percentile of 6-10 years experience of Dabbawalas is 28.

Out of 50 sample, 09 Dabbawalas lies in 11-15 years of experience & there percentile is
18.

There are 12% of Dabbawalas which lies in 16 to 20 years of experience.

The total percentile of 21-25 years experience of Dabbawalas is 28.

There are many Dabbawalas who has been working from more than 25 years with
association.

These higher senior categories of Dabbawalas are 10% of whole strength.

IS MONTLY SALARY ABLE TO BE FULFILL YOUR BASIC
NEEDS?

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 27 54%

NO 23 46%

46% Yes
54% No
IS MONTHLY SALARY ABLE TO FULFILL YOUR BASIC NEEDS?

Dabbawalas are doing risky job. To travel Tiffin boxes through trains at peak hour,
also as per requirement of the customer they provide services on public holidays. But they
only get Rs. 200-300 per month per Tiffin from customer who contributes around Rs.
5000-6000 monthly income. But to live in city like Mumbai, this amount is not capable to
fulfill basic needs.

The aim of this question is to know opinion about their monthly income. The
question covers financial aspect of research work.

The 54% of Dabbawalas are satisfied with their salary, which are able to complete
their basic needs.

The remaining percentages of Dabbawalas i.e. 46% are not satisfied with their
salary which is unable to fulfill their basic needs.
DO YOU HAVE ENSURANCE COVER FOR YOUSELF?

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 25 50%

NO 25 50%

Yes
50% 50%
No
DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE COVER FOR YOURSELF?

The object behind to ask this question is to know how may Dabbawalas thinks
about their life & do investment to secure it.

I got some good reply from them, many Dabbawalas are very conscious about their
life because they know risk gravity in their job. They want self protection & family
protection from uncertain events so they secured their life.

But 50% of Dabbawalas are not secured their life because they don't have
sufficient amount to invest in insurance. But they wish to invest in insurance.

They want government or association should do to secure their life or give them
insurance.
 DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE COVER FOR YOURSELF?

The project behind to ask this question is to know how many Dabbawalas thinks
about life & do investment to secure it.

I got some good reply from them, many Dabbawalas are very conscious about
their life because they know risk gravity in their job. They want self protection & family
protection from uncertain events to they secured their life.

But 50% of Dabbawalas are not secured their life because they don't have
sufficient amount to invest in insurance. But they wish to invest in insurance.

They want government or association should do to secure their life or give them
insurance.

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 0 0%

NO 50 100%

0%

Yes
No

100%
 HAS ASSOCIATION INSURED YOUR LIFE?

The object behind to ask this question is that the Nature of their job is physical
they do field work so necessity of insurance cover is must fore them. To protect life of
each & every Dabbawala is prime responsibility of association ; but they unable to protect
life of all Dabbawalas ; because below income rate.

In received 100% negative answer for this question. Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box
Supplier Association (NMTBSA) has not provided protection cover & not in the future
thinking about to give protection cover is all their members.

Member of the association are privately taking insurance cover from Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC) for their & repentant. They wish that association or
Government should provide them insurance cover at .................................. which they will
capable to pay.
OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 0 0%

NO 50 100%

0%

Yes
No

100%
DO YOU GET ANY RETIREMENT BENEFIT OR OLD AGE
BENEFIT FROM MMTBSA?

Northern Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is not providing any retirement
benefit or old age benefit to their members. The frequency of this question's answer is
100% No. so I say it is 100% negative answer.

There is little reason behind this.

• NMTBSA charges low fees from their customers

• They do not have sufficient balance to provide retirement benefit

• Whatever monthly income they earn, they equally distributed within itself.

• If any Dabbawala want to retire or leave job, he can do by selling his clients to
association, that time association give him a lumsum amount; which is only source
of income for them after retirement or resignation.

The Dabbawalas association has "DAKKHAN MAVALE SAHAKARI PATPEDHI" this

gives personal loan to members at very reasonable rate. The members can take benefit
after retirement also. So the gap of old age benefit or retirement benefit to members is
partially filled up by this scheme.
DO YOU GET ANY RETIREMENT BENEFIT OR OLD AGE
BENEFIT FROM NMTBSA?

Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association is not providing any retirement
benefit or old age benefit to their members. The frequency of this question's answer is
100% No. so I say it is 100% negative answer.

There is little reason behind this :

• NMTBSA charges low fees from their customers.

• They do not have sufficient balance to provide retirement benefit.

• Whatever monthly income they earn, they equally distributed within itself.

• If any Dabbawala want to retire or leave job, he can do by selling his clients to
association, that time association give him a lumsum amount; which is only source
of uncome for them after retirement or resignation.

The Dabbawalas association has "DAKKHAN MAVALES SAHAKARI PATPEDHI"

This gives personal loan to members at very reasonable rate. The members cant take
benefit to members is partially up by this scheme.
AS PER NATURE OF JOB, HAD YOU FACE ANY INJURY DURING
YOUR WORKS? IF YES. THEN PLEASE MENTION

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 10 20%

NO 40 80%

20%

Yes
No

80%
AS PER NATURE OF JOB, HAD YOU FACE ANY INJURY DURING
YOUR WORK? IF YES, THEN PLEASE MENTION

The object behind to ask this question is to know risk gravity in their job. Doing
field work job in Mumbai city is too hectic, & handle time management side by side is
very impossible. So doing these kinds of job, what kind of problem they face & how they
tackle in was the prime aim behind this question.

20% of Dabbawala met with an accident in the course of duty. They also mention
reason of an accident. The reasons are as follows.

• The four wheeler struck to cycle at walkeshwer area at the time of delivering.
Tiffin boxes, hospitalized-leg, hand fractured.

• Due to continuous cycle riding theyface problem of pain in leg, chest (chamak -
motech)

• Many times vehicles struck to their cycle.

The remaining 80% Dabbawala said that they know the art of riding cycle with carrying.
Tiffin boxes. But they are not denying that in the future they will not meet with an
accident. Means there is a lot of risk they carry at the time of delivering. Tiffin Boxes.
OTHER THAN NMTBSA, HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING
SOMEWHERE ELSE?

OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 06 12%

NO 44 88%

12%

Yes
No

88%
OTHER THAN NMTBSA, HAVE YOUR BEEN WORKING
SOMEWHERE ELSE?

The Dabbawalas are getting only Rs. 5000-6000 monthly. This amount is not sufficient to
live in Mumbai. The Dabbawalas family consists spouse, children, parents; all are totally
depends on them.

88% of Dabbawalas are not doing any work, because they completely tire after
doing daily work +& unable tot do other kind of part-time job.

22% of Dabbawalas who are young they do part-time job in morning or in evening.
Such as:

• Doing some agency work like Bhisi, investment ect.

• Pan card-helping others to get pan card.

• Landing - unloading work- hamali in flawer market of Dadar & in other area

• Working as a Coompounder clinic-those who are educated they do part time work
clinic.
OPTIONS ANSWER PERCENTAGE

YES 47 94%

NO 1 2%

MEDIUM 2 4%

2% 4%

Yes
No
Medium

94%
Do You Satisfy working with nmtbsa?

This is the key question of this research work. The entire conclusion is depending
on it. The question gives exact statistical percentage of satisfied Dabbawalas.

This six sigma service providers are really satisfied or not is the main object
behind this question. The 94% of Dabbawalas are satisfied while working with
association. They feel prestige while working with Association. Their inner satisfaction is
reason behind their job satisfaction. "Service to customer is service to god" is formula
behind their job satisfaction.

Only 1% of Dabbawalas are not satisfied because they are educated & they feel
uncomfortable while working with association due to unemployment they came to this
profession. The nature of the job & risk involved in it is other reason behind their
dissatisfaction.

4% of Dabbawalas are given Medium reply i.e. they are 50-%0 percentage
satisfy & physical illness while working with association. They were confused while
deciding their job satisfaction level so they have given Medium (neutral) reply.
HOW DO YOU RATE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH NMTBSA?

Options Answer Percentage

Excellent 27 54%

Very Good 09 18%

Good 14 28%

BAD 0 0%

Very Bad 0 0%

HOW DO YOU RATE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH NMTBSA?

28%

54%

18%

Excellent Very Good Good

 How Do you Rate your Experience with Nmtbsa?

This question helps to know about their past experience also to know about their
exact job satisfaction level.

The question gives idea about Dabbawalas opinion about their association; the
Dabbawalas are spending their work life with association so how they rate their experience
is the prime factor in this job satisfaction research.

57% of Dabbawalas mark as "Excellent" level about their work experience.

18% of Dabbawalas mark as "Very Good" working experience with association.

28% of Dabbawalas mark as "Good" level about their work experience.

The important thing is that no one marks on Bad & Very bad level of experience
with Association.

So I say this is 100% positive answer.

 ANNEXURE

FINDINGS :

The Dabbawala satisfaction research gives findings on following points:

• Financial level :

The Dabbawalas are financially not sound they are earning only Rs. 5000-Rs.
6000 per month & their entire family is depending on them but research shows
that 54% of Dabbawalas are satisfy with their salary. Only 12% of Dabbawalas
are doing part time job to fulfill their basic needs.

• Family level :

There job is physical in nature so after doing full day duty they become tire &
unable do other kind of part time job. Their family members also work to
contribute in to family income.

• Personal level :

Dabbawala provides good quality of service to their customer as per their

demands; they keep aside their self view & do their work honestly. Doing work
in team is the key element of their self satisfaction. Their relations with peers
contribute to improve their self satisfaction level.
• Social level :

Only 50% of Dabbawalas has secured their life by taking private insurance
cover. The remaining 50% has not secured their life because of incapacity to pay
premium of insurance & illiteracy about social security. The association has not
secured their members life & also they do not provide any social security cover
to them. 100% no support from the association related social security cover.
 Conclusions

Thus we have the unique system of delivery of lunch boxes in Mumbari for the
mumbaities. It is not a full fledge commercial organization, running business with primary
aim of profit, but rather that an organization with the aim of customer satisfaction. A very
true & excellent example of Hospitality.

The six sigma service providers & 100% customer satisfaction level achievers
are really satisfied. To know practically their job satisfaction level was the motto of these
research. & I would like to conclude that the six sigma service providers are really
satisfied with their job. The research has shown 94% satisfaction level. This is really
grateful .

Though they are earning very less amount from their business, though their job
is too hectic in nature, though they don't have any social security measures for their safety
but their glazing eyes shows they are satisfied with their job. Customer is God & service
to customer is as same as service to God. Their customer is satisfied so they are satisfied.
They called as Management Guru because of their core values, which are

• Work is Worship

• Serving people is Serving God

• Annadan is Mahadan

• Time is Money

• Unity is Power

I would like to mention some opinions of Dabbawalas, what they said about their
job satisfaction.

• We Dabbawalas whatever we earn from serving Tiffin boxes which is not

enough to fulfill our basic needs, but we never think about it & we provide
services on time, & after achieving our daily target of delivering Tiffin's within
 a time, the pleasure we receive from customer side is the real satisfaction for us.
We do all these work for parmartha i.e. for God.

• Work is worship. Whatever we earn after hard work is realsatisfaction for us. No
need how much we earn from it.

• Delivering Tiffing boxes is very difficult job which involved hard work.
Whatever we earn out of from it is not able to fulfill our basic needs. But such
social work brings happiness & satisfaction in our life. So we are satisfied.

• Customer satisfaction is self satisfaction.

I received a good supportive response from all Dabbawalas; they were ready to fill
up questionnaire form.

Association has not provided social security to them, but their team is their
strength which brings mutual understanding with each other & support.

There has not surety about getting yearly bonus, which is totally depends on
customers. Dabbawala never force their customers to pay bonus on Diwali occasion. Some
customers pay & some do not, but whatever amount they receive as a bonus they equally
distributed.

Dabbawala is a symbol of honesty, time management & loyalty. 12% of

Dabbawalas do part time job to fulfill their basic needs. 44% of Dabbawalas lies in 8 th to
10th standard passed i.e. they are not highly qualified but they are ready to change &
promote innovation in their business.

50% of Dabbawalas has insured their lives by taking insurance, remaining are
not capable to take insurance because their earning is less to invest in insurance. But they
wish to take insurance for their safety. 20% Dabbawalas had faced personal injury during
working hours. Many times they met with an accident on duty. So they know about
importance of insurance.

54% said their monthly salary is able to fulfill their basic needs, but not enough
to stay in a city like Mumbai. That means though they have poor financial background,
they are satisfied about their job. Money is not a motivational factor to them, their
associations core values are motivator behind their satisfaction.

There are lots of things to learn from this research like :

• Organizational objective is important than personal.

• "Karmanye Vadhi Karaste Maa Phaleshu Kadachana" a bhagvatgeeta's shlok

which means 'Do your work honestly without thinking about profit or
benefit, it will get at right time'.

• Customer satisfaction leads to job satisfaction.

• Monetary value is not a real motivator of job satisfaction .

• Team work improves performance.

• Corporate social responsibility is prime work of each & every organization.

How much we are earning is not important but whatever we earn, we have to
give back to our society.

Recommendation

Though the system has proved to be very veneficial for its customers & employees
but there are some kinds of limitations, these gaps should have to fill up by
adopting recommendations.

After completing this research there are some recommendations from the
Dabbawalas side & some from my own side, which are as follows :

• Insurance cover :

Association must think about providing insurance cover to all

Dabbawalas. They can contact many insurance providers & can take
group policy of all Dabbawalas which cost fewer amounts than single
insurance cover.
 Association should have to talk with Employees State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC) & put forward their proposal.

• Job Enlargement (Advertisement) :

The association should do job enlargement activity like be an advertise

promoter. Daily they reach more than 2 lacks of office goers also travel
with public transport so they grab attention of lacks of peoples in a day.
So they have to take a job of promoting advertisement of different
companies' brands, TV serials etc. which would add extra income in their
fund.

• Consult With Government :

The NMTBSA should have to consult with different government agencies & put
forward their issues. Such as

• Government should provide social security cover to them,

• To provide some place for exchange of Tiffin boxes at public places.

• To give concession in traffic rules at the time of peak hours.

• Railway board should provide separate luggage compartment to them

between morning's peak hours (8:00am-12:00pm).

The have to strengthen their activity & should collectively put forward their issues in front
of government.

• Expand Business :
They should have to expand their business & try to smart business in other kind of
service sector like courier services.

1% of Dabbawalas are not satisfied working with association because they are well
educated new generation & feel uncomfortable while doing field work. Due to
unemployment they forcefully came into these professions. If NMTBSA Start
providing services in new sector & give an opportunity to young generation then it will
definitely improve their morale & attain growth.

• Start Adult Education programme:

The Association should start adult education classes for uneducated & less educated
Dabbawalas. As per research data 12% Dabbaawalas are not educated. they never went
to shool. 18% Dabbawalas lies in 1st standard to 4th standard. & same percentage in 5th
standard to 7th standard. The average No. of Dabbawalas lies in 8th standard to 10tth
standard & their percentage is 44% so association should arrange Adult education
classes for Dabbawalas which provide basic education as well as market knowledge.
This will make them competitive to face global competition.
 ANNEXURE

Questionnaire

DABBAWALA SATISFACTION SURVEY

• Name

• Education

• Married Unmarried

• How many years have you been working with nmtbsa?

• Your Current monthly salary

• Is Monthly Salary able to fulfill your basic needs?

Yes No

• Do you have insurance cover for yourself?

Yes No

• Has Association Insured Your Life?

Yes No

• As per nature of job, had you face any injury during your work?

Yes No

• If Yes, then please mention.

• How much amount of bonus you get

• Do you get any retirement Benefit or old age benefit from NMTBSA?

Yes No

• Other than NMTBSA have you been working somewhere else?

Yes No

• Do you satisfy working with NMTBSA?

Yes No Medium

• How do you rate your experience with NMTBSA?

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Bad

Very Bad

• Any suggestion, Demand, Opinion

Signature
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY DATA:

Dabbawalas satisfaction questionnaire form\

INTERVIEW :

Mr. Raghunah Medge (president)

Mr. Gangaram Talekar (secretary)

WEB SITE :

www.myDabbawala.com

PROJECT REPROT :

The process of management of the Dabbawala" by

Mr. SHRISH PRATAP SINGH (MBA)