Some fascinating facts about dabbawalas
Have been reading up about the dabbawalas (lunch delivery men in mumbai) on wikipedia - here are some highlights.
- In 1890 Mahadeo Havaji Bachche started a service with 100 men
- They formed an informal union in 1930
- Formed a charitable trust in 1956
- Currently around 200,000 boxes of lunch are delivered every day by ~4500 dabbawalas
- Each dabbawala earns $40-$80 USD / month
In 2002, Forbes Magazine found its reliability to be that of a six sigma standard. More than 175,000 or 200,000 lunch boxes get moved every day by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. According to a recent survey, they make less than one mistake in every 6 million deliveries, despite most of the delivery staff being illiterate.
Although the service remains essentially low-tech, with the barefoot delivery men as the prime movers, the dabbawalas have started to embrace technology, and now allow booking for delivery through SMS.[4] An on-line poll on the web site ensures 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 men (there are only a few delivery women) 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.
What an enterprise, definitely recommend checking out the wikipedia article
