1. clear division of labor

The Indian movie "Lunchbox" released in 2013 is about the emotional story of Mumbai's delivery boy who sent the wrong meal, the movie really restored the process of Dabbawala delivery. Simply put, Dabbawala has five parts to a ****, and each person is responsible for only one of them at a time, enabling assembly line-like transportation.

First, Deliveryman A will ride a bicycle, go door-to-door to pick up the food, and then carry a large stack of lunchboxes to the nearest train station, where they will be sorted by Deliveryman B. Deliveryman C will be responsible for taking the food to the nearest train station. Deliveryman C will be responsible for transporting the boxes to the nearest train station. Deliveryman D receives the meals and sorts them again at the train station. Finally, deliveryman E will deliver the lunchboxes to the customers one by one.

Yes, without the support of Mumbai's robust rail transportation system - 2,342 trains a day travel between the city and its suburbs - Dabbawala could not have accomplished such a daunting task.

2. Special Marking Methods

Most people in Dabbawala are less educated, so there is no cumbersome writing on the canisters and boxes, and in order to accurately deliver the food, they have invented an exclusive method of marking the letters and colors to identify the stations, buildings, and even workplaces where the food is to be delivered.

▲Dabbawala's special marking method

3. Flat management

According to media reports, Dabbawala's organizational structure is very flat, with only three tiers in the roughly 5,000-strong organization: at the top is the association's executive committee, which is in charge of organizing, coordinating, and dealing with emergencies, welfare, and external interactions; at the second tier is each of the 25 to 30 Dabbawala members within the association. The second tier consists of group leaders of 25 to 30 Dabbawalas, usually experienced veteran Dabbawalas, who oversee the running of each group; and the third tier consists of the Dabbawalas within the group who are responsible for the specific delivery of the work.

This association-based organization has also created a healthy competition mechanism - each group is financially independent, and each group has its own financial resources, and each group has its own financial resources. -Each group is financially independent and team members are expected to work for the overall profitability of the team, which means that different groups in neighboring areas compete fiercely for more customers. At the same time, they have also stipulated that no team is allowed to compete unhealthily at a lower price than other teams when performing the same specification of courier tasks, avoiding internal conflicts.

Most importantly, their spirit of mission fulfillment, come rain or shine, is worth learning from all startups, including HungryMe. Vitthal Sawant, who has been delivering food for more than 10 years, said in an interview:

"We are proud of the fact that we have made sure that we deliver the boxes, even in the face of great odds: the great floods of 2005 didn't stop us, nor did the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, when a large part of the city's area was shut down."

▲Dabbawala delivers food in the pouring rain

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