Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A.A. 2014/2015
The ultimate goal is to train all the staff and give them the tools for
quality improvement, to apply the basic precept of Prevention
Management in every area.
For Juran, human relations problems are the cause of isolation and
resistance to change and thus the root cause of quality issues.
Data type
Compare one
group with
a target
Variables data Attribute data
Data type
Continuous
Attribute data
data
Focus of Type of
comparison attribute data
Center of the Spread of the
distribution distribution (standard
(mean or median) deviation or variance)
Binary data Count data
(yes/no) (occurrences)
Data
distribution
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution
Shape of
distribution
1-Sample 1-Sample
1-Sample t 1-Sample Sign 1 Variance 1 Proportion
Wilcoxon Poisson Rate
Data type
Type of
Focus of attribute
comparison data
Data
distribution
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution
2-Sample
2-Sample t Mann-Whitney 2 Variances Paired t 2 Proportions
Poisson Rate
Data type
Focus of
comparison
Data
distribution
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution
To estimate a characteristic value of a group, you must analyze a representative sample of data from
the group. Then, you can use hypothesis tests to determine whether that value differs from a target or
from another group. A target value may be an industry standard, a past performance level, or a process
specification.
Continuous Attribute
data data
If possible, collect continuous data because they provide more detailed information. However,
sometimes attribute data adequately describe the quality of a part or a process. For example, if you
track broken light bulbs, you don’t need to measure a characteristic of the bulb to evaluate whether
it’s broken or not. What matters is only the number of bulbs that are broken (counts).
You can evaluate the central value of the data using the mean (the arithmetic average) or the median
(the middle value when the data are arranged from lowest to highest). The median is less sensitive
than the mean to outliers.
You can evaluate the variation, or spread, of the data using the standard deviation or the variance.
The standard deviation is often easier to interpret because it uses the same units as the data.
Data
distribution
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution
The distribution of your data often depends on your process. For example, data that track cycle
time for service processes, such as the time needed to process an application, serve a customer, or
deliver a product, often do not follow a normal distribution.
Although the normal distribution is always bell-shaped, not all bell-shaped distributions are normal. To
determine whether your data follow a normal distribution, use normal probability plots, histograms, or
normality tests such as the Anderson-Darling test. You can perform these evaluations using Minitab’s
Normality Test or Graphical Summary.
If you have 30 or more observations, you can generally treat your data as being normal and perform
a basic statistical test to compare the mean of the group with a target value.
1-Sample t
Use Minitab’s 1-sample t-test to evaluate whether the mean is greater than, less than, or not equal to
a target value. If you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to
detect a difference in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite
direction.
For example, you want to know whether the mean diameter of the wheel rims differs from 16 in. You
could increase the power of the test by testing only whether the mean is greater than 16 in. However,
this test does not detect a difference if the mean is less than 16 in.
Typically, you use a 1-sample t-test to evaluate continuous data that are normally distributed. You
can also use a 1-sample t-test to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these conditions:
has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively few extreme
outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If your data
contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Use Power and Sample Size for 1-sample t to determine how much data you need to detect an
important difference between the mean and the target value.
Data distribution:
Nonnormal
Shape of
distribution
To evaluate symmetry, display your data in a histogram or boxplot to determine whether it is similarly
distributed on both sides of the central data value. If the data are symmetric, the mean and the
median are approximately equal, so you can use either the mean or the median to describe the
center of the data.
You can also use Minitab’s Symmetry Plot to evaluate the symmetry of your data. Choose Stat >
Quality Tools > Symmetry Plot.
Confidence
1-Sample Wilcoxon Estimated Achieved Interval
N Median Confidence Lower Upper
Time 15 9.35 95.0 7.30 11.40
The median is the middle value of the data when they are arranged from lowest to highest. The
median is less sensitive to outliers than the mean.
You can determine whether the median is greater than, less than, or not equal to a target value. If you
choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to detect a difference in
the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite direction.
You can also use a 1-sample t-test to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers. To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Confidence
Achieved Interval
1-Sample Sign N Median Confidence Lower Upper Position
%Chromium 12 17.70 0.8540 17.50 18.10 4
0.9500 17.43 18.76 NLI
0.9614 17.40 19.00 3
The median is the middle value of the data when they are arranged from lowest to highest. The
median is less sensitive to outliers than the mean and can be a more informative measure of the
center when the data do not follow a symmetric distribution.
You can evaluate whether the median is greater than, less than, or not equal to a target value. If you
choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to detect a difference in
the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite direction.
You can also use a 1-sample t-test to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers. To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Method
Focus of comparison:
Spread of the distribution Null hypothesis Sigma = 1
Alternative hypothesis Sigma not = 1
Statistics
CI for
Variable Method CI for StDev Variance
Length Standard (0.728, 1.085) (0.529, 1.178)
Adjusted (0.712, 1.122) (0.507, 1.259)
Tests
You can use Minitab’s 1 Variance test on normal or nonnormal continuous data.
You can evaluate whether the standard deviation (or variance) is greater than, less than, or not equal
to a target value. If you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power
to detect a difference in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite
direction.
For count data, you count the number of occurrences in a given amount of time, area, volume, or other
observation space. If a process has a constant rate of occurrence, use data from any observation
space to make an inference about the entire process, such as the number of defects per day, per
month, or per year. Otherwise, make sure that the observation space over which you collect the data
is appropriate for the question you want to answer.
Suppose the rate of phone calls at a call center varies greatly each hour. If you track only the calls
received between 8 am and 9 am, the rate will not reflect the average hourly rate over the entire day.
Conversely, if you track the calls over the entire day, the average hourly rate will not reflect the rate
of calls received between 8 am and 9 am.
1 Proportion Exact
Sample X N Sample p 95% CI P-Value
1 87 1000 0.087000 (0.070268, 0.106208) 0.008
You can evaluate whether the proportion is greater than, less than, or not equal to the target value. If
you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to detect a difference
in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite direction.
Suppose you want to know whether the proportion of customers who respond to the mailer differs
from 6.5%. You could increase the power of the test by testing only whether the proportion is greater
than 6.5%. However, this test does not detect a difference if the proportion is less than 6.5%.
Use Power and Sample Size for 1 proportion to determine how much data you need to detect an
important difference between the proportion and the target value.
“Length” of observation = 1.
You can evaluate whether the rate is greater than, less than, or not equal to the target value. If you
choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to detect a difference in
the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite direction.
Suppose you want to know whether the rate of bus breakdowns differs from 2.1. You could increase
the power of the test by testing only whether the daily rate of bus breakdowns is less than 2.1 per day.
However, this test does not detect a difference if the rate is greater than 2.1 per day.
Data type
Continuous Attribute
data data
If possible, collect continuous data because they provide more detailed information. However,
sometimes attribute data adequately describe the quality of a part or a process. For example, if you
track broken light bulbs, you don’t need to measure a characteristic of the bulb to evaluate whether
it’s broken or not. What matters is only the number of bulbs that are broken (counts).
Independent Paired
samples observations
Focus of
comparison
Center of Spread of
distribution distribution
You can evaluate the center of the data using the mean (the arithmetic average) or the median (the
middle value when the data are arranged from lowest to highest). The median is less sensitive than
the mean to outliers.
You can evaluate the variation, or spread, of the data using the standard deviation or the variance.
The standard deviation is often easier to interpret because it uses the same units as the data.
Focus of comparison:
Center of distribution
Data
distribution
The distribution of your data often depends on your process. For example, data that track cycle
time for service processes, such as the time needed to process an application, serve a customer, or
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution
deliver a product, often do not follow a normal distribution.
Although the normal distribution is always bell-shaped, not all bell-shaped distributions are normal. To
determine whether your data follow a normal distribution, use normal probability plots, histograms, or
normality tests such as the Anderson-Darling test. You can perform these evaluations using Minitab’s
Normality Test or Graphical Summary.
If you have 30 or more observations in each sample, you can generally treat your data as being
normal and perform a 2-sample t-test to compare the means of two groups.
Two-sample T for A vs B
Data type:
Continuous N Mean StDev SE Mean
A 10 80.7 10.6 3.4
B 15 59.0 14.2 3.7
How are data sampled:
Difference = mu (A) - mu (B)
Independent samples
Estimate for difference: 21.70
95% CI for difference: (10.79, 32.61)
T-Test of difference = 0 (vs not =): T-Value = 4.11 P-Value = 0.000 DF = 23
Focus of comparison: Both use Pooled StDev = 12.9213
Center of distribution
Data distribution:
Use Minitab’s 2-sample t-test to evaluate whether the mean of one group is greater than, less than, or
Normal
not equal to the mean of the other group. If you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than),
the test has more power to detect a difference in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a
2-Sample t difference in the opposite direction.
Typically, you use a 2-sample t-test to evaluate continuous data that are normally distributed. You
can also use a 2-sample t-test to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these conditions:
has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively few extreme
outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If your data
contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Use Power and Sample Size for 2-sample t to determine how much data you need to detect an
important difference between the means of the two groups.
Data distribution: The median is the middle value of the data when they are arranged from lowest to highest. The
Nonnormal median is less sensitive to outliers than the mean and can be be a more informative measure of the
center when the data do not follow a symmetric distribution.
Mann-Whitney You can evaluate whether the median of one group is greater than, less than, or not equal to the
median of the other group. If you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has
more power to detect a difference in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference
in the opposite direction.
For the Mann-Whitney test, both groups should have approximately the same variance. To compare
the variances of the two groups, use Minitab’s 2 Variances.
You can also use the 2-sample t-test to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Data type:
Continuous
Focus of comparison:
Spread of distribution
2 Variances
Paired t
Typically, you use a paired t-test to evaluate the mean differences between paired observations when
the differences follow a normal distribution.
You can also use a paired t-test to evaluate paired data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
If the paired differences are nonnormal and contain many extreme outliers, use the 1-sample
Wilcoxon test (for symmetric data) or the 1-sample sign (for nonsymmetric data) to evaluate the
paired differences.
Type of
attribute
data
To collect count data, you count the number of occurrences in a given amount of time, area, volume,
or other observation space. If a process has a constant rate of occurrence, use data from any
observation space to make an inference about the entire process, such as the number of defects per
day, per month, or per year. Otherwise, make sure that the observation space over which you collect
the data is appropriate for the question you want to answer.
Suppose the rate of phone calls at a call center varies greatly each hour. If you track only the calls
received between 8 am and 9 am, the rate will not reflect the average hourly rate over the entire day.
Conversely, if you track the calls over the entire day, the average hourly rate will not reflect the rate
of calls received between 8 am and 9 am.
You can evaluate whether one proportion is greater than, less than, or not equal to the other
proportion. If you choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to
detect a difference in the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite
direction.
Suppose you want to know whether a process change affects the proportion of mishandled packages.
You could increase the power of the test by testing only whether the proportion for the new process
is less than the proportion for the old process. However, this test will not detect a difference if the
proportion for the new process is greater than the proportion for the old process.
Use Power and Sample Size for 2 Proportions to determine how much data you need to detect an
important difference between two proportions.
* NOTE * The normal approximation may be inaccurate for small total number of occurrences.
You can evaluate whether one rate is greater than, less than, or not equal to the other rate. If you
choose a one-sided test (less than or greater than), the test has more power to detect a difference in
the direction of interest. However, it cannot detect a difference in the opposite direction.
Suppose you want to detect whether a process change affects the rate of scratches per door. You
could increase the power of the test by testing only whether the rate for the new process is lower
than the rate for the old process. However, this test will not detect a difference if the rate for the new
process is higher than the rate for the old process.
Data type
Continuous Attribute
data data
If possible, collect continuous data because they provide more detailed information. However,
sometimes attribute data adequately describe the quality of a part or a process. For example, if you
are tracking broken light bulbs, you don’t need to measure a characteristic of the bulb to evaluate
whether it’s broken or not. What matters is only the number of bulbs that are broken (counts).
Focus of
comparison
You can evaluate the center of the data using the mean (the arithmetic average) or the median (the
middle value when the data are arranged from lowest to highest). The median is less sensitive than
the mean to outliers.
You can evaluate the spread, or variation, of the data using the standard deviation or the variance.
The standard deviation is often easier to interpret because it uses the same units as the data.
Data type:
Continuous
Focus of comparison:
Center of the distribution
Data
distribution
Normal Nonnormal
distribution distribution The distribution of your data often depends on your process. For example, data that track cycle
time for service processes, such as the time needed to process an application, serve a customer, or
deliver a product, often do not follow a normal distribution.
Although the normal distribution is always bell-shaped, not all bell-shaped distributions are normal. To
determine whether your data follow a normal distribution, use normal probability plots, histograms, or
normality tests such as the Anderson-Darling test. You can perform these evaluations using Minitab’s
Normality Test or Graphical Summary.
If you have 30 or more observations in each sample, you can generally treat your data as being
normal when you perform a basic statistical test to compare the means of two or more groups.
Data distribution: Individual 95% CIs For Mean Based on Pooled StDev
Level N Mean StDev +---------+---------+---------+---------
Normal
Blend A 6 14.733 3.363 (-----*------)
Blend B 6 8.567 5.500 (------*------)
Blend C 6 12.983 3.730 (------*------)
One-Way ANOVA Blend D 6 18.067 2.636 (------*------)
+---------+---------+---------+---------
5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0
Typically, you use one-way ANOVA to evaluate the means of two or more groups if you have
continuous data that are normally distributed. The test assumes that the data from each group have
about the same spread (equal variance). To test the variances of the groups, use Minitab’s Test for
Equal Variances.
You can also use one-way ANOVA to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
Use Power and Sample Size for one-way ANOVA to determine how much data you need to detect an
important difference between the group means.
Data distribution:
Nonnormal
You can also use one-way ANOVA to evaluate data that is nonnormal but meets one of these
Kruskal-Wallis conditions: has 30 or more observations, is symmetric with at least 5 observations, or has relatively
few extreme outliers.To quickly evaluate normality and outliers, use Minitab’s Graphical Summary. If
your data contains any extreme outliers, make sure they are valid measurements.
If you have many extreme outliers, you may want to use Mood’s median test to compare the central
values of the groups. Although Mood’s median test is less powerful than the Kruskal-Wallis test, its
results are not as strongly affected by outliers.
Data type:
Continuous
Focus of comparison:
Spread of the distribution
You can use the test for equal variances on normal or nonnormal data.
For a more in-depth analysis of the relationship between the groups and their levels, consider using
logistic regression.
© 2009 Minitab, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced without permission.
MINITAB® and all other trademarks and logos for the Company’s products and services are the exclusive property of Minitab, Inc. All other marks referenced remain the property of their respective
owners. See www.minitab.com for more information.
182 Six Sigma – Concepts and Cases
Mumbai Dabawala
”Six Sigma” means a failure rate of 3.4 parts per million or 99.9997 percent perfect;
however, the term in practice is used to denote more than simply counting defects.
Six Sigma can now imply a whole culture of strategies, tools, and statistical
methodologies to improve the bottomline of companies. In all, six sigma is a rigorous
analytical process for anticipating and solving problems. The objective of six sigma
is to improve profits through defect reduction, yield improvement, improved
consumer satisfaction and best-in-class product/process performance.
Why is it important?
Bottomline drives management action. What is your Cost of (poor) Quality? First
you need to determine that. Properly implemented, six sigma implementation can
become a profit-center for the company. Jack Welch at GE claims that the returns on
six sigma implementation amount to about $500 million as of 1998. Remember that
six sigma is complementary to other initiatives such as ISO or QS 9000 (which is
mainly procedural), Total Quality Management (which is mainly cultural) and
Statistical Process Control (which is primarily statistical process monitoring).
Six Sigma focuses on process quality. As such, it falls into the category of a process
capability (Cp) technique. Traditionally, a process is considered capable if the
natural spread, plus and minus three sigma (a yield of 99.73 percent), was less
than the engineering tolerance. A later refinement considered the process location
as well as its spread (Cpk) and tightened the minimum acceptable so that the
process was at least four sigma from the nearest engineering requirement. Six
Sigma requires that processes operate such that the nearest engineering requirement
is at least plus or minus six sigma from the process mean. This requires considerable
scientific and testing actions – often thousands of tests are run on multiple variables
to get an understanding of what’s going on. Once you determine the process
variables and using the other process analysis techniques, you need to consider
the ones causing the major losses and work on making them more capable.
A person trained in the Six Sigma methodology who is a team member of six sigma
process improvement action teams.
A person that is part of the leadership structure for process improvement teams are
called “Black Belts” (just as Total Quality utilized “Quality Improvement Team
Leaders” to provide structure). Black Belts are highly-regarded, technically-oriented
product or line personnel who have an ability to lead teams as well as to advise
management.
A person trained in the six sigma methodology who acts as the organization-wide
Six Sigma director or a program manager. He oversees Black belts and process
improvement projects and provides guidance to Black belts as required. A Master
Black belt teaches other six sigma students and helps them achieve Green belt and
Black belt status.
Usually a top executive or senior manager who “talks the talk” and “walks the
walk” of six sigma. This person is the sponsor, a catalyst and the driving force
behind the organization’s six sigma implementation.
For the legendary Jack Welch, a self-proclaimed cynic of quality programmes, Six
Sigma was not another quality tool that was heavy on slogans and light on results.
Under Welch’s regime, GE splurged $450 million (nearly Rs.2,205 crore) in two
years on training its employees for Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts
(leaders for Six Sigma initiatives within the company).
Mumbai Dabawala 185
So what was special for Six Sigma? Simply speaking, it is a vision, a tool for
quality improvement, a benchmark and a profit improvement methodology all
rolled into one. Started by Motorola in the US in 1985, it was used, among other
things, to manufacture a virtually defect-free pager. The methodology has been
extensively used for achieving defect-free products.
The Six Sigma approach to quality ensures that the defects are eliminated
progressively by identifying the root causes and eliminating the source of variation.
As the defects are eliminated, the yield improves, work in process comes down,
customer satisfaction improves and the profitability of the company goes up.
While implementing Six Sigma, the first task at hand is identifying the factors
critical to quality and pinning down defects that put a question mark on quality.
As C R Nagaraj, corporate vice president, Mission:Quality, Wipro Limited, explains,
“Six Sigma converts a business problem into a statistical problem and finds a
statistical solution. It then converts the statistical solution into a business solution.”
This is the basic template for all the Six Sigma project methodologies. There are
tools and techniques at different stages that help one understand the problem,
diagnose root causes, validate critical root causes and implement corrective action.
For example, a tool like the Design Customer Satisfaction and Manufacturing
(DCSM) would be used for designing and manufacturing new products, while the
cross-functional process mapping (CFPM) would be used for large processes that
run through the business.
Variation that induces defects is caused by two factors: chance factors and
assignable factors. Chance factors are those that are generated by the system and
over which the operator has little control. For instance, in a manufacturing process,
186 Six Sigma – Concepts and Cases
when a lot of bearings in a machine wear out, they produce variation in the product
under manufacture. Similarly, deviations in the quality of raw material or power
supply produce variations. These are chance factors that the management has to
control.
On the other hand, the assignable factors that constitute 15 percent of the
variation is dependent on the person who is operating the system and factors such
as skills, diligence begin their role at this stage. “The management is most
responsible for the variation that is produced, which includes putting up the right
processes, putting up metrics for understanding process behaviour and plan
corrective action,” says Nagaraj.
Six Sigma differs from other quality initiatives in terms of its structured approach
to achieve profitability improvement through the competitive advantage.
Importantly, while other quality initiatives take an operations point of view, Six
Sigma approaches problems from the customer’s side.
Sigma is the statistical measurement for variation in any output, and when
companies talk of + - 6 times the Sigma within a specification, it means that 99.99967
percent of the products manufactured are within specification. The higher the
sigma level, the better the quality. For example, a Three Sigma level of quality
means 93.32 percent of the products or processes are within specification. Among
Indian companies the average Sigma level is estimated by consultants to be in at
2.5 Sigma level.
So how does the Six Sigma work? The methodology focuses mainly on the
strategically important outputs of an organisation that affect customer satisfaction.
The most critical to quality features are attacked first and the rest follow in order of
importance. A Six Sigma scale provides a means of establishing a measure of
performance for any tangible and intangible outputs.
company. These eight stages are: Recognize, Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve,
Control, Standardise and Integrate. The highly skilled teams known as Black Belts
work full time on Six Sigma projects and lead teams through each of the core four
phases Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control (MAIC) that affect key process.
They make one Error on every 16 million transactions. The world renowned Forbes
magazine has selected them as a colossal example of six sigma’s success..
The Mumbai tiffinwallahs are international figures now thanks to Forbes Global.
The Forbes story details the efficiency with which they deliver the Tiffins of
their customers. Around 5000 tiffinwallahs deliver 175,000 lunches everyday and
take the empty Tiffin back. They make One Mistake in 2 months.
This means there is one Error on every 16 million transactions. This is thus a
6 Sigma performance (a term used in quality assurance if the percentage of
correctness is 99.999999) – the performance which has made companies like
Motorola world famous for their Quality.
These are the men who deliver 175,000 lunches (or “tiffin”) each day to offices
and schools throughout Mumbai, the business capital of India. Lunch is in a tin
container consisting of a number of bowls, each containing a separate dish, held
together in a frame. The meals are prepared in the homes of the people who commute
into Mumbai each morning and delivered in their own Tiffin carriers. After lunch,
the process is reversed. And what a process – in it’s complexity, the 5,000
tiffinwallahs make a mistake only about once every two months, according to
Ragunath Medge, 42, president of the Mumbai Tiffinmen’s Association. That’s
188 Six Sigma – Concepts and Cases
one error in every 8 million deliveries, or 16 million if you include the return trip.
“If we made 10 mistakes a month, no one would use our service,” says the craggily
handsome Medge.
How do they do it? The meals are picked up from commuters’ homes in suburbs
around central Mumbai long after the commuters have left for work, delivered to
them on time, then picked up and delivered home before the commuters return.
Each tiffin carrier has, painted on its top, a number of symbols which identify
where the carrier was picked up, the originating and destination stations and the
address to which it is to be delivered. After the Tiffin carriers are picked up, they
are taken to the nearest railway station, where they are sorted according to the
destination station. Between 10:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. they are loaded in crates
onto the baggage cars of trains. At the destination station they are unloaded by
other tiffinwallahs and re-sorted, this time according to street address and floor.
The charge for this extraordinary service is just 150 rupees ($3.33) per month,
enough for the tiffinwallahs, who are mostly self-employed, to make a good living.
After paying Rs.60 per crate and Rs.120 per man per month to the Western Railway
for transport, the average tiffinwallahs clears about Rs.3,250. Of that sum, Rs.10
goes to the Tiffinmen’s Association. After minimal expenses, the rest of the
Rs.50,000 a month that the Association collects go to a charitable trust that feeds
the poor.
Superb service and charity too. Can anyone ask for more?
Comments
What is wonderful about this system is that it extends the design and uses the
tiffinwallahs, the end user and their cognitive and memory structure as well. Since
one tiffinwallahs is not going to pick more than 10-20 tiffincarriers, he can easily
sort recognize at the originating station and deliver it to the owner. Also within a
building, the Tiffinwalah knows which floor to deliver. Within a floor a owner can
Mumbai Dabawala 189
recognize his tiffin amongst others. Thus these Tiffins carry only * A symbol (not
name) of the originating station * A symbol for the destination station * A symbol
for the building where the addressee is.
And what is more amazing is that this is run by people, most of whom are
illiterate.