'Self-imposed discipline': success mantra of 'dabbawallahs'

Kozhikode, Nov 27 (UNI) Lecturing management gurus and students of the Indian Institute of Management (Kozhikode), the Mumbai 'dabbawallahs' have said self-imposed discipline was the 'mantra' of their success in sustaining the globally-acclaimed supply chain.

Talking at the annual operations seminar organised by the premier B-school here last evening, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association (NMTBSA) President Raghunath D Megde and Secretary Gangaram Talekar said none of our 5000-odd members were allowed to consume alcohol during work in order, to ensure accuracy.

''All we know is that the consequences of errors were adverse to our customers and we strive to minimise them'', they said before the elite gathering, which elicited apt attention throughout their discourse.

Narrating their experiences in delivering about two lakh tiffin boxes to offices, schools and colleges spread across the Megapolis with bare minimum errors, they said ''Our quality, customer care and supply chain are excellent and we have 100 per cent customer satisfaction.'' They said foolproof coding system helped the NMTBSA undertake the delivery with precision despite changing hands four to six times a day.

The said old timers guided the new entrants in the field to execute their work efficiently. For every 20 'dabbawallahs', there were three substitutes to take care of exigencies and support the novices.

'Gandhicaps' and identity cards were used to identify each other and reduce the waiting time at offices while checking in and checking out.

''For us work is worship and customer is our God'', Mr Talekar said adding NMTBSA achieved Six Sigma Certification in 2001.

Every day, in a span of just three hours from 0900 hrs to 0000 hrs, the 'dabbawallahs' make sure that they picked all the lunch boxes from homes and deliver them to rightful owners in the offices.

The NMTBSA, formed as a charitable trust in 1956, charge Rs 300 to Rs 350 to each customer a month and has a turnover of Rs 40 crore.

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