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  • October 2012 (Revised September 2013)
  • Teaching Note
  • HBS Case Collection

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:13
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Abstract

The Mumbai-based dabbawalas are a 5,000 or so person organization that achieves exceptional service performance with a semi-literate workforce. Every working day, they deliver and return about 130,000 lunchboxes to offices throughout Mumbai. This entails more than 260,000 transactions within six hours each day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year (minus holidays) and mistakes are extremely rare. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material flows, human resource system, processes, etc.) and the challenges that the dabbawala organization faces in a rapidly changing environment.

Keywords

Systems Design; Organization Design; Service; Organizational Design; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mumbai

Citation

Thomke, Stefan H. "The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 613-062, October 2012. (Revised September 2013.)
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About The Author

Stefan H. Thomke

Technology and Operations Management
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Related Work

    • October 2012 (Revised September 2013)
    • Faculty Research

    The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

    By: Stefan H. Thomke
Related Work
  • The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time By: Stefan H. Thomke
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