Deccan Herald

DH News Service Bangalore:

Mumbai dabbahwallahs have set an example of grassroot-level management that will put even business gurus to shame.

Their excellent supply chain management have made them into case studies in Harvard Business School, clinched an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records and won them a Six-Sigma efficiency rating by Forbes Global Magazine.

Their logistic solutions have attracted corporate honchos like Virgin Airlines owner Richard Branson, and featured them in the exclusive guest list at the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Students at ICFAI Business School were in for a brainstorming session with them on Saturday, when Raghunath Medge and G L Talekar, President and Secretary of Mumbai Dabbahwallahs’ Association respectively shared their knowledge about the 113-year-old business at the seminar on ‘Impeccable logistics and supply change management’. For an achievement of four lakh transactions a day, and an error rate of one in 16 million transactions, the Dabbahwallahs’ underlying management principles are surprisingly simple -- discipline, commitment, time management, team-work and ethics.

Race against time

Explaining the methodology, Mr Raghunath Medge revealed that the race against time of 5,000 Dabbahwallahs begins at 9 am, when they begin their collection rounds from the origin points.

The dabbahs change six hands before the cycle is completed.

Motivation is high, as every dabbahwallah is a shareholder in the business, added Mr Talekar.

The collections are equally divided among all the dabbahwallahs, and each one earns an income of Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000. There is no retirement age, and the average age of dabbahwallahs is 52 years, said Mr Talekar.

Each new entrant is given a six-month induction training under the local group leader, elaborated Mr Talekar.

Message

The dabbahwallahs association’s latest marketing strategy is carrying advertising pamphlets in the dabbahs.

This offer was taken up by Star TV, which publicised KBC-2 using this method. So did the Maharashtra Government, which distributed AIDS awareness pamphlets through the dabbahs on World AIDS Day on December 1, Mr Raghunath Medge added.