Mystery literally shrouded the Girardin Minibus stand at the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) trade show in Austin, Texas, last November. The suspense was building for the unveiling of a brand new vehicle that was kept under heavy guard, by both an oversized white sheet and company employees.
President Steve Girardin managed to avoid news leaks as he prepared two years for the launch of his new dual rear wheel Type A bus, called G5.
“It was unexpected. The first word I heard (from the crowd) was ‘wow.’ We hit the nail on the head,” said Girardin, as he recalled his eventful vehicle launch.
His bigger accomplishment that day was writing a new chapter in the family business. He was embarking on a new corporate strategy to succeed the FUTURA MB-IV with the G5 mini bus as the centerpiece. Only a select few — not even the majority of his own employees in Drummondville, Quebec — had a clue.
“We wanted it to be a surprise to the public,” said Girardin. The approach was intentional and deliberate, as SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION NEWS learned first-hand during a visit to Girardin’s Canadian facilities.
Rooted French Canadian Company
Meeting 34-year-old Steve Girardin is as close as one gets to introduction to a school bus industry dynasty. He’s the third generation of an entrepreneurial French Canadian family that built a bus manufacturing empire.
In the 1940s, his grandfather Lionel Girardin tinkered in used cars and mechanic services. By the late 1950s, Lionel founded a bus transport service in Drummondville with a fleet of refurbished buses from his own scrap yard. To this day the company still operates four bus routes in the area.
While the family ventured into other transportation-related businesses (Blue Bird dealership, Dodge dealership, aftermarket parts and even gasoline), Girardin realized the potential of a mini-bus manufacturing enterprise. In the early 1980s, the company built an assembly plant that evolved into an annual production operation of 1,500 Type A and B buses for school and commercial customers.
Today, Girardin employs 185 people in the vertically integrated bus company that builds parts, assembles buses and sells them through a network of 35 dealerships.“They’re a big enterprise. We’re glad they continue to invest here. We’re strategically located on the highways and we have reliable workforce,” said Jilles Trois Groie, communications director for Ville de Drummondville.
Without the historic and contemporary contrasts of neighboring Montreal, Drummondville serves as one of Quebec’s important manufacturing centers. More than 500 other manufacturers operate small shops around Drummondville, and the town reported a total of $157 million (CAN) in industrial investment in 2005.
While Girardin is one of many manufacturers, it has some of the deepest roots in town. Another sibling, Dave Girardin, also works for the company, and their father, André Girardin, retired as president in February.
“French Canadians are very proud people,” said Steve Girardin. “We hang onto our traditions, but we’re open to change and innovation.”
Turning the Corporate Tide
Girardin recognized the need for quick change to counter hardships in the market, including costly raw materials, fuel prices and fluctuating exchange rates.
“We re-evaluated from the ground up. How would we look if we came out new?” Girardin said. The answer turned out to be a company with keen customer focus, lean manufacturing practices and strategic product risks in a “conservative” industry.
Customers were the first stop for the corporate restructuring. The company conducted focus groups, questionnaires, interviews to find out what they wanted in a mini bus. Customers said they wanted better maintenance configurations and a longer product life cycle. Price was the last priority.
“We were a bit surprised by the conversations. We didn’t know how far to push the product change or cost. We know there are conservative customers and didn’t want it to backfire,” said Ron Campbell, sales manager in the Girardin School Bus Division.A small team went underground to design and build the fifth generation dual rear wheel bus. In a second-floor room, designers worked diligently behind locked doors with story boards and computer aided design programs. On the production floor, large plastic tarps shielded a small staging area from view.
Upon completing the design phase, the G5 emerged as a product balanced with quality, safety and style.
“It’s redesigned for affordability. We couldn’t sacrifice quality or cheapen the design,” said Girardin. “It’s a hit on both sides. We got crazy to be different — just enough.”
Taking G5 to the Floor
Girardin’s flagship single rear wheel mini bus MB-II is a top seller, but the company restructured operations and production around a dual rear-wheel mini bus. When Girardin broke its product secret employees stepped up to reconfigure and refine the production process.
At every stage the company instituted lean practices based on the Toyota Production System, a benchmark in the automotive industry. It reduced parts suppliers, increased its own sub-assembly areas and created a separate aftermarket assembly area to speed up the production line. By January 2006 Girardin was in full production.
“We implemented, saw the successes and grew excited. We’re still fine-tuning the process, but the throughput has increased. It’s never where we want it to be,” said Girardin.
Employees carefully handcraft the vehicle’s redesigned structure, including: a riveted modular subframe and floor; reinforced side barriers; full-length structural beams; one piece roof panel; sealed windows; insulation; extended rear bumper; and recessed lights.
Other G5 features add more style, functionality and visibility, including closer-to-hand primary controls, access door to the wire harness, revised entrance door, and more view in the A-pillar.
Each feature addresses a need for increased safety, comfort and prevention of damaging water infiltration.
Going to the Customer
Girardin now is delivering the G5 to both commercial and school customers. The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is taking delivery of its fleet. While the school bus distribution is randomly scattered, more customers are looking at the G5 for larger fleets.
The Boston Public School District may be in the market for Girardin’s G5 next year, according to Transportation Director Richard Jacobs. A fifth of the district’s 717 school buses are Girardin MB-II mini buses. Collectively, the MB-II fleet has ramped up more than 10 million miles.
“They hold up very well. It’s a bus that can be used for any combination — routes or individual needs. And they’re small enough to get through the narrow streets of Boston,” Jacobs said.
He added Girardin allowed late feature and aftermarket changes at the production stages, and that allowed the district to accommodate government specifications. “Massachussets is a low-bid state. Not only was it the product we wanted, it was the price we wanted,” he said. “They’re professional and a first-class operation.”
Reprinted from the July 2006 issue of School Transportation News magazine. All rights reserved.
