Talk:Dabbawala

Questions
Who cares about the Six Sigma reference? I can see why you might want to link from Sigma Six here, but not the other way around. foson

Why can't the husbands carry their own lunches to work? RickK 21:28, Jun 2, 2004 (UTC)


 * Typically because lunch wouldn't quite be ready by the time they leave in the morning. Ambarish | Talk 22:39, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Also, in India, people prefer food that is hot (temperature) and fresh.--ganesh 02:32, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Please help me in making this a Featured article, by dontaing some images--ganesh 02:32, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * I submitted this page to peer review. That should in getting this article featured. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm|(talk)]] 22:20, Oct 2, 2004 (UTC)

also, VERY importantly, a lot of the time, the dabba isn't coming from home. i.e., the dabbawalla makes it himself. this isn't just a tifin-carrying service but a tiffin-catering service as well. this helps a lot of people who don't have the facilities/time to cook.

It says they make 4000 rupees; is that per month? or per month per customer, or what?

In the "JanLokpal Bill Support" section it says that the dabbawalas went on strike and "involuntarily gathered at Azad Maidan with march starting from Churchgate" - what does this mean, why did they gather involuntarily, and did they gather at Azad Maidan or Churchgate? Please make it clear, and put into understandable English.

Can I get those information in sinhala Shanelkamendis (talk) 07:03, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Home-cooked
Someone added entries to indicate that Dabbawala food is not always, or usually, home cooked but supplied by specialist cooks. If that were the case then surely this system would be unnecessary and cooking near the office would be the norm. The references I have found all indicate that home-cooking is the norm. Anyone else? DJ Clayworth 20:59, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Dabawallas deliver "home cooked" food to middle class working people (working in banks, govt offices etc.). Their main customer base is not business people. I don't have a ready reference for this (though I have read this too), I have visited Mumbai several times and seen the dabawallas operate and talked to them. (User: Sandeep Suryavanshi, 27 Sept 06)

I agree too! I lived most of my life in Mumbai and am familiar with dabbawalas. The food is home-cooked. On some occasions, someone may ask the dabbawallas to pick up the food from someone who is running some small catering business from home, but thats pretty much it. dabbawallas specialize in delivery, not production. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.21.113.25 (talk) 19:11, 14 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Based on these comments, I'm going to change the article. Cooke (talk) 16:57, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Photo?
Could anyone provide a photo please?--A Y Arktos\talk 11:06, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
 * There is a picture at http://nomadlife.org/past/2005_02_01_archive.aspx Among the comments is "Even wikipedia has covered it." (ie this article). :-)--A Y Arktos\talk 11:11, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Added two photos from theirofficial site after getting their permission. Sanat 07:50, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

This is actually a very good article
This is a very informative article!

How does it stand with the reviewers? I found it very informative.

Helenabucket 03:22, 10 October 2006 (UTC)helenabucket


 * It's very interesting. However, I'd be interested in learning a little more about how the system works.
 * Septegram 15:09, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Routing?
How do they do routing? If most carriers are illiterate, and the dabbas are only marked with colors, that seems inadequate to give addressing of the whole city. Since the pickup and delivery carrier are different, it can't be just memory. Don't they also use some sort of hub-and-spoke system? &mdash;Dgiest c 21:45, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah. Do the picker carries the dabba to a neighbourhood centre, from where it is taken to a business area centre from where it is delivered? How many regroupings or steps are there? --84.20.17.84 10:14, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Map
Something as simple as a sketch of Mumbai with a big dot for a typical neighbourhood of worker homes, another for a typical business area and dots for the wala relay stations with a sketched route joining them. --84.20.17.84 10:17, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Six Sigma
Is there any evidence for the six sigma claim? The cited reference isn't much of a reference at all...just an article from a consultant's site. Untill someone can back up the claim I'm deleting the reference. Also Forbes is just a magazine...I'm not aware that they have any role in the six sigma process/systemFarsnickle 17:25, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Also did a search of Forbes since 1983 in Ebsco MasterFile--No results. It's claimed all over the web that Forbes did the six sigma rating...but I can't find any evidence to verify the claim. Farsnickle 17:56, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi, I've solved this matter. Forbes never gave a Six Sigma rating. See. It was implied by something the author of the original Forbes article said and blown apart by the media. I've tried to set the matter straight on the page. I gave it its own heading because this is such big part of the culture, but it is really a myth - not a fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Qrv3w (talk • contribs) 15:49, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Confusion
I am confused: Do the Dabbawalas themselves make the food, or is it food directly from the recipient's home? Please respond on my talk page, if you can. BashmentBoy 15:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC)BashmentBoy

Neutral point of view

 * "The success of the system depends on teamwork and time management that would be the envy of a modern manager."
 * "Such is the dedication and commitment of the barely literate and barefoot delivery men..."

Phrases like these don't seem very neutral. Should we change these? Sushi Tax 19:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

No because every article on the Dabbawala shares the same sentiment as what these lines say. Every modern manager would really hope to achieve the rate of error of the Dabbawala. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.204.147.46 (talk) 04:07, 7 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I do think these are not neutral. Maybe it can be changed to something like
 * "The success of the system depends on teamwork and precise time management."
 * "The barely literate and barefoot delivery men (there are only a few delivery women) who form links in the extensive delivery chain rely on a simple colour coding system that doubles as an ID system for the destination and recipient." 89.136.53.27 (talk) 10:49, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

How does it actually work?
Fascinating article, but a brief summary of how the system works would be good. The article as it stands leaves me wanting to know more! 217.155.138.250 18:41, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

There used to be one, but it got deleted somehow. I went back over a year to find one and pasted it in. 199.71.183.2 18:41, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

NPOV
I think we have NPOV here- the sentences deemed offensive have been removed.RSido (talk) 02:58, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

'Low-tech and lean' incomplete
2 gaps in an otherwise good article: 89.136.53.27 (talk) 10:55, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
 * "An on-line poll on the web site ensures that customer feedback is given pride of place." Which website? It is not specified.
 * "There are no multiple elaborate layers of management either — just three layers." Could we know which layers? Is it just one layer of 'actual' dabbawala (i.e. moving the boxes around) and 2 layers of management?

Russian version
Can I translate this artical and place it in russian version of Wikipedia and use the pictures as well? Leoneedss (talk) 23:02, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
 * No problem, but avoid only use of Google translator tool. Karthik Nadar (talk) 06:26, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Suggestion - Add Infobox
Hello, I suggest that we add an infobox on the right side encapsulating the salient points of the Dabbawallah network. Any views? - Notthebestusername (talk) 04:36, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

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