Mumbai’s Dabbawalas (Tiffin walas) make up an incredibly efficient 130+ year old lunchbox delivery service. They deliver hot lunches from homes and restaurants to offices using bicycles and trains.
In the late 1800’s, large migrant communities moved to Bombay from different parts of India bringing with them culinary customs from a wide range of communities. A market sprung up to delivery home cooked meals from their homes to offices.
The Dabbawalas use a colour-coding system marking the lunch boxes by either:
- Abbreviations for collection points
- Color codes for starting stations,
- Number for destination stations,
- Notations for handling dabbawala at the destination such as building and floor
Dabbawalas have been said to have an error rate of approximately 1 in 8 million or 1 in 16 million if the return trip is counted separately, and that’s without GPS! Their accuracy rate rivals that of FedEx.
So how do Dabawalas outperform organizations staffed with employees with advanced degrees and the latest technology in efficient, accurate and timely logistics management?
The answer is meticulous group timing or synchronicity. As Daniel Pink pointed out in his book When, the ultimate “boss” is the train schedule. While there is a council and mukadams, there are no employees. Each Dabawala is an entrepreneur.
Tiffins are collected by 9 am, and sorted by 10 am and reach their destinations by lunchtime, while still warm.
Dan Pink also points out in “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” that the Dabawalas have a mission, which sets them apart from a pizza delivery driver.
“If you treat the dabba as a container, then you might not take it seriously. But if you think this container has medicines that must reach patients who are ill and may die, then the sense of urgency forces commitment.” - Raghunath Medge, president of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association,
In addition to every member of the organization understanding the objectives of the business as well as adhering to a systematic process, it is important to have a genuine mission - one that you can explain to a six year old.
“Optimizing performance” or “achieving financial objectives” may be a generic goal of many corporations, but it is certainly not an inspiring mission, not one that will propel a business forward.
Feature Image by Kobby Dagan licensed from Shutterstock.
References:
http://specials.rediff.com/money/2005/nov/11spec.htm
Daniel Pink: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Forbes 1998: https://www.forbes.com/global/1998/0810/0109078a.html?sh=2949852c208b