Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see the the Dabbawalas in action but I heard a lot about them and it's safe to say their system is pretty impressive.
From Physorg...
For over 115 years lunch deliverymen, called Dabbawalas, have been collecting lunch packed in three or two-tier metal boxes from subscribers' homes and delivering them to their workplaces.
Today 5,000 Dabbawalas make about 200,000 lunch deliveries in the city and have become famous for their precision and efficiency. Reportedly their mistake rate is just 1 in 16 million deliveries, which caused Forbes magazine to award its Six Sigma certification in 2001.
They collect lunch boxes from homes in the morning and take them to the nearest railway station. From there each of the boxes that is coded according to the station of origin, the Dabbawala team at the collection and delivery point, and the destination, are sorted and taken to the next intermediary stations, where they are sorted again for area-wise distribution and delivery. A single lunch pack could change hands three to four times in the course of its daily journey.
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