Fast track build shapes bus firm for production

It was a tough call but then big challenges have never fazed millionaire builder and landlord Bob Clarkson.
Kiwi Bus Builders managing director and founder Richard Drummond needed new premises in a hurry to cater for his expansion - and Mr Clarkson was happy to keep to a tight timeframe.
His construction team turned the first sod on the 1.8ha site in the Tauriko Business Estate in late October.
The roof is now on the 5000sq m factory that will contain three production lines, and Mr Clarkson's team is on track to complete the building in record time by the end of February.
Normally, it would take seven to nine months to finish a similar sized building, including planning and obtaining permits.
"With the right co-operation, I knew we could do it," said Mr Clarkson. "I had a lot of faith in my staff and in a tenant who was prepared to make quick decisions."
Mr Drummond said: "We are lucky we've got the likes of Bob Clarkson who is prepared to make things happen."
Kiwi Bus Builders needed bigger premises to handle the kitsets that will start arriving from Scotland in May - two months after moving in, fitting out the factory and training up the 50 new staff.
The Tauranga bus builder, which has been operating for 18 years, partnered Britain's leading firm Alexander Dennis to win a $50 million year-long contract to build 120 new buses for New Zealand Bus's Auckland and Wellington passenger services.
Alexander Dennis will build the components of the modern 36-seater Enviro200 city buses and Kiwi Bus Builders will assemble them from the kits shipped to Tauranga.
Kiwi Bus Builders expects to assemble three buses a week, and later in the year it will also source some of the components locally and build the buses' chassis to reduce freight and labour costs.
When that happens, the company will have to hire another 20 people. In the end, Kiwi Bus Builders will share about half of the contract price - amounting to $25 million. And the Tauranga company is confident more orders will follow.
The Infratil-owned New Zealand Bus (formerly Stagecoach) runs a fleet of 1100 in Auckland and Wellington. Contracts being tendered later this year in Auckland will require to meet the euro 5 emission levels - which the Enviro200 bus has achieved.
Kiwi Bus Builders is also working with Alexander Dennis to create orders in Australia, and Mr Drummond wants to use the new factory as a production hub for the Australian exports.
"We are crammed in like sardines in our old premises (in Sherson St) and we were not able to take advantage of production efficiencies," said Mr Drummond.
The three production lines will run parallel to each other along the 100m length of the new factory. One of them will be dedicated to the New Zealand Bus contract and will operate on rails like a car assembly line.
A crane will pick up the parts from the sub-assembly area and drop them on to the chassis at the start of the production line.
Mr Clarkson is also building a 650sq m paint shop that can handle six buses at a time in two rows.
"We are lifting the whole operation to a new level," said Mr Drummond, who has seen a big turnaround in his business.
Nearly a year ago he had to lay off 25 people, taking his staff to 110 as his core work of building tour coaches fell from 50-60 a year to five in 2009. There was still the school and city buses, however.
The production of coaches peaked in 2007 when Kiwi Bus Builders employed 140 people.
Kiwi Bus Builders will top this with a staff of 160 people once the New Zealand Bus contract comes on stream - and then it will increase to 180 people when the company starts building the chassis.
Last year the company built 80 buses and this year expects to supply a further 50 to other customers - on top of the New Zealand Bus contract.
Kiwi Bus Builders is presently completing an order of nine five-star luxury coaches for Transit, one of the owners of InterCity Coachlines.
The 49-seater coaches have been lengthened from 12.6m to 13.5m to create more leg room and they will be used to transport teams and officials during the Rugby World Cup.