Dabbawala system

The Dabbawala system is a highly efficient lunch delivery network in Mumbai, India, where trained workers (Dabbawalas) collect homemade meal boxes from customers' homes and deliver them to their workplaces, then return empty boxes. Using a streamlined logistics approach, often relying on color-coding and a coding system, they coordinate thousands of deliveries daily with remarkable accuracy, minimal technology, and low cost. This system’s reliability, despite limited infrastructure, has gained global recognition for its organizational excellence and time management, serving as a model of efficient, low-cost supply chain logistics in urban settings.