The iconic dabbawalas of the city are now just a click away with www.dabbewale.com going live on Tuesday, the auspicious Ashadhi Ekadashi day.
The dabbawalas are famous for delivering lunchboxes to employees in offices across the metropolis, taking the crowded suburban trains, with little or no error, a feat that has won them a six-sigma rating.
It is to expand their services and enrol customers fast that the dabbawalas have gone online.
To utilise the service, a customer has to enter name, contact number and address on the website, and the dabbawala in that area will get in touch.
“Earlier, new customers had to face difficulties in contacting us. They had to wait at railway stations to contact us or seek the help of their building watchmen for the purpose. Now, a dabbawala will be at their doorstep once they contact us online,” Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the association of dabbawalas, told The Hindu .
The service of delivering lunchboxes, dabbas in Marathi, at workplaces started 126 years ago, when a Parsi banker wanted to have home-cooked food in office.
The initial informal and individual efforts were given an organisational structure by Mahadeo Havaji Bachche with over 100 dabbawalas.
Now they are an extended family of 5,000 handling some 2,00,000 lunchboxes a day.
Work ethicTheir work ethic has been a subject of management studies ever since they got the six-sigma rating, a statistical measure and management philosophy indicating the margin of error in a system.
Prince Charles and Richard Barnson, founder of Virgin Group, have appreciated their work ethic and delivery systems.
Keeping up with timesWith this digital step, the dabbawalas have updated themselves with the latest business trends.
“Every company has online services. People prefer online shopping to visiting big malls,” Mr. Talekar said.
“Our site will connect us with a wide range of people, and we will be able to receive their feedback and suggestions directly.” They are also planning to introduce a mobile app soon.
