Dabbawalla Case

Theory of constraints applied for dabbawallas:

8:30-9:00 am – Report for work at Kurla station

9:00-10:00 am – Collect dabbas from homes

10:00-10:30 am – Groups congregate at Kurla and sort based on destination station

10:30-10:45 am – Board dabbas on trains

10:45-11:30 am – Travel by trains to various destinations

11:30- 12:00 pm- Unload and rearrange as per destination area and destination building

12:00-1:00 pm – delivery to offices

1:00-1:30 pm – lunch break

1:30-2:30 pm – collect lunch box from offices                                                -

2:30-2:45 – load dabbas on trains                            

2:45-3:30 – travel to kurla (sorting station)

3:30-4:00 – Sort dabbas at station

4:00-5:00 – return dabbas to homes[pic 1]

                     Capacity constrained resource (potential bottleneck)[pic 2]

                      Bottleneck

As per the schedule shown the highlighted activities are bottlenecks. The first bottleneck is collecting the dabbas from home and reaching the sorting station (Kurla). It takes the longest time (1 hour). Any delay in this activity will delay the whole process and so it cannot be tolerated. Also there is high chance of potential delay in this activity because the meal has to be ready at the home when the person reaches home for collection. As this activity is partly controlled by customer it is critical.

The second bottleneck as per the schedule is delivering the dabbas to the offices. However this is not that critical as it can be easily controlled and it is the hands of the dabawallas.

The third bottleneck is collecting lunch boxes form offices. This is also a critical one as it depends partly on customer. More than often lunch at offices gets delayed and the dabbawalas may not be able to control it. So this activity needs to be closely monitored.

The activity of travelling by train, though not a bottleneck is a capacity constrained resource. It normally takes forty five minutes and cannot be controlled by the dabbawalas. A delay in the train which is quite common in Mumbai, can convert this activity to be a bottleneck.