Your Dabbas On Time, Everytime!

Come Saturday and Raghunath Medge, president of Nutan Tiffin Suppliers Association, alongwith his band of boys, will address
a group of 50 management gurus on the finer nuances of logistics management.

The lecture, which will be organised by the Strategic Communication for Management shall see logistics heads from companies
like Pepsico India, ICICI Bank, Parle Bisleri, Hero Honda, Reliance, and Bayer as participants.

Donning a Gandhi topi and speaking only a smattering of English, Medge does not look like your proverbial management guru,
but nonetheless will deliver a lecture on how he and his boys manage the mind-boggling task of picking up and delivering more
than two lakh tiffin boxes everyday, on time and without mixing them up.

Incidentally, the dabbawallas have been conferred with a six sigma performance rating by the Forbes magazine for a 99.999999
percentage of correctness - which means just one error in six million transactions - the very reason that awed the Prince of
Wales himself.

Speaking to Times News Network, Medge said that addressing a crowd comprising such senior executives and company heads did not make him nervous.

"Ours is a 114-year-old institution and we haven't had a single strike till date. It only makes me proud to explain our way
of functioning to these people," he added.

However, Medge does not want the lecture to interfere with their work of supplying 'meals on wheels'.

"Even when the Prince wanted to meet us, we had specified that we could spare only half hour in the morning since we have a
very hectic schedule. The Prince's visit is fine, but what is more important is the faith our customers have in us. We are
happy at the end of the day if they can eat their meals on time," he said.

So, what exactly is the golden-mantra that he is going to share with his audience on Saturday?

The lecture shall focus on their approach, organisational structure, financial data, achievements and logistics operations,
besides coding and the return journey.

The modus operandi basically involves a dabbawalla picking lunch boxes at about 8 am individually from residences and taking
them to the nearest railway station.

Initially, coloured ribbons were tied to the tiffins to distinguish them. Later, these were replaced by colour-coded stripes and symbols.

From here, the boxes go through a series of transport systems and pass through multiple hands before reaching the customer's office table.

"We also use the basic English alphabet and numerals to mark the tiffins. It's not easy since most of the boys are
illiterate, but they are willing to learn and have a very good memory," said Medge.

The dabbawalas operate on the basis of small groups per station. Each group has its own fund through which it carries out its
income and expenditure transactions.

In all, there are about 5,000 members who collect 40 tiffins each. They have their own credit society through which members
can take loans. And the retirement age limit comes only when you grow too old to work.

The clockwork precision and efficient management practices the dabbawalas have evolved are often presented as case studies in
various management schools.

In fact, the dabbawalas have made a presentation to students of the prestigious
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Amongst the few people he chose to meet on his trip to India, Prince Charles chose the dabbawalas because they were unique.

"Every city has beautiful buildings and views, but no other city in the world or in India has our dabbawallahs ," the British spokesperson had said.

Medge and his boys will wholeheartedly agree.