World Class Logistics Operations: The Case of Bombay Dabbawallahs

Abstract

The Bombay Dabbawallahs operation is widely recognized as an outstanding example of excellence in Logistics. It is often quoted as a standard example of six sigma implementation in the Indian context. Because of its popularity Prince Charles of the United Kingdom paid a visit to the operations site during his official visit to India in 2003. In this article we study in detail the nature and content of this system, critically examine its salient features and analyze the possibility of extending the system to similar or related domains.