Tiffin time goes tech savvy

Mumbai's dabbawalas are famous not just for the amazing service they provide, but also for the unfaltering accuracy with which they operate .

Four years ago, when the BBC splashed Mumbai's dabbawalas across TV screens worldwide the buzz was all about how this massive network functioned seamlessly, without a hitch and especially without the help of modern, information technology. The mind boggled at the thought of a lone Raghunath Meghe (el presidente) sitting in his shantytown office, organising the massive workforce that delivered hot meals to executives and businessmen throughout the bustling metropolis of Mumbai.

With no computers or online services, this lean machine was a management marvel; it made its way into business school case studies, into the headlines of major broadsheets across the globe and even caught the attention of Prince Charles. It even earned itself a Six Sigma certification long before most companies in India knew what it was. Before that, the stars of Mumbai's lunch hour operated akin to invisible men, barely noticed and never missed.

A practice that originated almost two centuries ago, the concept of the dabba is quite simple — freshly cooked and packed food is brought to the work place from the home. The pick-up and delivery service began when the city began to grow in size and population.

Case study

In today's Mumbai, the dabbawalas of the Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers' Association (MTBSA) are a godsend. Beating traffic, the inclement heat and rain of the summer, and over 25 million people, they collect lunch-boxes packed with devotion and a hot meal and deposit them on desks citywide — at 12:30pm, give or take a few seconds.

The dabbawalas were unsung heroes before the Beeb came to Mumbai and turned the spotlight on them. The TV spots led to news features and op-eds and the Indian media finally turned to the 5,000-man army as a source of great pride.

These men finally got noticed, not just for the amazing service they provided, but also for the unfaltering accuracy and organisation with which they operated. So great was their exposure that Ivy League schools bowed to their uncanny precision and blogs spelled out, just how much logistics titans such as UPS and FedEx could learn from them.

Changing with the times

The publicity and India's IT boom has finally pushed them into the next generation, where SMS and online booking systems have replaced legal registers and excel files have taken over delivery route allocations.

People looking to book for a daily lunch delivery service can now reach the complex network through various channels. A new website, www.mydabbawala.com, offers interested parties a chance to register their interest in the service; SMS systems have also been established to make the ordering process simpler.

This move has been heralded as a welcome change, but it begs the question — will high-tech systems make the network less efficient?

Keeping the legacy alive

As the MTBSA begins to rely on the IT infrastructure to manage its network, it will be left open to more errors. System crashes and weather interference with broadband relay could cast a shadow over their 125-year-long reign over executive bellies. The biggest worry is this: will impressive yet unreliable high-tech systems replace the tiffins' coloured, alphanumeric coding that plays a central role to the efficiency of the network?

So far, the coding remains intact and the association continues to grow every year, putting home-cooked delicacies in the hands of expectant, hungry executives and students.

We can only hope that they stick to the original idea no matter how big they get — keep processes and systems lean, keep your workforce smart and hard working and keep the food hot.