New bus design 'recyclable'

WHEN most of us go on holiday we look at the attractions, the scenery, the people.

When Wayne and Raylea Smith go on holidays, they look at the buses, trains, trams and planes.

The owners of Caloundra business Northcoast Bus and Coach are always on the look-out for new ideas they can implement at home.

And so it is fitting that the business has announced a new partnership with a Malaysian bus builder, Gemilang, and its long-time partner in the Alcan Eco Range, a business unit of Rio Tinto.

It turns on its head the way the company has made buses and coaches for the past 23 years.

Firstly, they are aluminium and not steel, thereby reducing their weight, fuel consumption and carbon emissions while increasing their recyclability, with 85% of the bus able to be crushed up and reused like a Coke can when it reaches the end of its life.

They are also built using vastly different methods that do not require welding.

But the biggest difference is what the new partnership will make to the business.

“At any given moment we would be running with about 60 staff, but we would be looking to double that in the next 12 months and triple it in the next 18 months,” Mrs Smith said. “With the steel bodies, we did need skilled tradespeople but, with the Alcan Eco Range, it's a production line, so you don't need 20 skilled people.

“You might only need one person per section.

“We've already produced two of these aluminium bus bodies and we have another 11 on order for Pulitano's in Brisbane.”

She said it was a significant move for the company as it would allow it to double its business inside a year.

“Most of our work comes from Victoria, so going south is not new to us, but what it does is open up opportunities,” she said.

“Once upon a time we would do between 40 and 50 buses a year.

“Now we can produce 150 vehicles. And that means we can go for the big tenders that we have previously not been able to go for.

“Now we can be an active opposition who can do that.”

Mrs Smith said the new capability of the business could mean another extension to the premises, or the purchase of another block of land to build a bigger shed.

She said the secret of the business's success was the fact she and her husband were always available to the clients, something she believed would continue as they got bigger.

“The first port of call for people is Wayne or myself, and a lot of times you can't get to the head honcho,” she said.

“We do a lot of customising for our clients...and we were the first people to build the emergency exit kickout door.

“That was Wayne's invention.

“But he is not really into the limelight of things...he is happiest out on the floor building a bus.

“That's our passion.”