Ê







 

 

 


 

 Ê


 

 Ê



  

  
 

Ê

 
 

c


!"!Ê#$%!#&&'


³The position of a business in a firm depends upon the quality of goods and service it provides
.They are not only trying to compete on low cost, but also emphasis on developing core
Competencies and distinguish them from competitors. Coordination of suppliers result in better
Positioning of firm among the consumers. Supply chain Management is very much important in
Today¶s world especially in service industry.´

³This report emphasis mainly on the greyhounds supply chain, the strategy¶s they adopt , how
much importance they give to the supply chain. Analyze their efficiency and effectiveness in the
supply chain´


($)#Ê$(
³Greyhound started in 1928 when A.R. (Russ) Penfold began a passenger service in
Toowoomba Today's Greyhound Australia is the result of many buy-outs and mergers of various
bus/coach line companies. Its earliest origin was in the form of Pioneer Tours, later to become
Pioneer Coach Lines, formed in 1905. Greyhound and Pioneer joined forces in 1992, then in
1993 merged with Bus Australia and traded under the umbrella of Australian Coach lines.
McCaffertys purchased Greyhound Pioneer Australia in 2000 forming the only national coach
operator in Australia. Greyhound Australia is the largest long distance bus operator in Australia,
operating in all mainland states and territories. It is owned by the Chapman Group and ANZ.
Greyhound is operating throughout Australia . They travel to over 1100 destinations in Australia
daily.‘ In conjunction with its intercity passenger service, Greyhound offers express package
delivery. It also provides charter bus service. Greyhound Australia is Australia's only national
bus service ... With strong local and international supply chain systems in place. The company
relies on supply chain from purchasing of coaches, spare parts, maintenance to the parcel service
the undertake.´

)#Ê$()!%Ê!

The main product of the company is the transportation of passengers across Australia, other than
these they also provide a logistic service. A new partnership between Greyhound Freight and
Stateline Freight means people can now send freight and parcels in and out of Tasmania to any
one of the 7,200 towns and suburbs Greyhound delivers to Australia-wide every day. Many of
the parcels and cargo are carried out simultaneously with the passenger transportation across
Australia. The greyhound coaches are designed in such a way that it has a special cabin under the
passenger¶s cabin to accommodate these parcels.

#*'Ê+($$!,!

³In today¶s rapidly changing business environment, ever greater demands are being placed on
business.

á to provide products and services quicker

á with greater added value

Ô
 á to the correct location
á with no relevant inventory position.

³Customers want more quality, design, innovation, choice, convenience and service, and they
want to spend less money, effort, time and risk. The supply chain of a company consists of
different departments, ranging from procurement of materials to customer service. Supply Chain
Management means transforming a company¶s "supply chain" into an optimally efficient,
customer-satisfying process, where the affectivity of the whole supply chain is more important
than the affectivity of each individual department.´

³Nowadays, the competition in the passenger transport sector is focused in some elements of the
cruise supply chain. Luxury Coaches, on-board provisions, websites, e-agents are some of the
competition fields among bus lines companies Despite the benefits that a passenger company
might gain by competing on the aforementioned elements, a holistic approach of the supply
chain as a mean to obtain a competitive advantage is still lacking, although there are signs that
such a supply chain is evident in the passenger transport industry. Different strategies are used in
the this industry from the purchase of bus to the parcel service the undertake they have different
strategies .The supply chain they follow is a mixture of several factors´

³A company could develop a cooperative supply chain based on cooperation and information
sharing among the participants (like in the retail sector, see Li, 2007) aiming at creating value for
the passengers (value constellation concept, see De Martino and Morrillo,2008). The problems
towards this strategy is that a player in a bus company¶s supply chain might be also part in
another company¶s supply chain which can cause effectiveness problems throughout the supply
chain (see Hakkansson and Persson, 2004) if we take into account the fierce competition existing
in the bus industry. The concepts of redundancy and flexibility in supply chains proposed by
Sheffi and Rice (2005) are also difficult to be applied in a cruise supply chain as cruise
companies does not maintain a stock as they offer services and not products. Regarding
flexibility as a strategy to confront with unexpected disruptions in the supply chains its also
difficult to apply in cruise as cruise companies seeking to maintain long-term business
relationships. A risk management approach from all the companies in the cruise supply chain
might also be a solution to these kind of disruptions. Passenger Bus supply chain strategy

´
depends heavily on the complexity of the chains as well as the value of the ³cargo´ (i.e. the
passengers). As shown on figure 1 a simplified cruise supply chain involves many players with
different strategies and interests. ³

&$(Ê!-#*'Ê+(

³Supply chain management is essential to company success and customer satisfaction. Today's
business climate has rapidly changed and has become more competitive as ever in nature.
Businesses now not only need to operate at a lower cost to compete, it must also develop its own
core competencies to distinguish itself from competitors and stand out in the market. Greyhound
has introduced new variety bus into its fleet to compete with its competitors every 6 months. In
creating the competitive edge, companies need to divert its resources to focus on what they do
best and outsource the process and task that is not important to the overall objective of the
company. Supply Chain Management has allowed company to rethink their entire operation and
restructure it so that they can focus on its core competencies and outsource processes that are not
within the core competencies of the company. Due to the current competitive market, it is the
only way for a company to survive. The strategy on applying Supply Chain Management will not
only impact their market positioning but also strategic decision on choosing the right partners,
resource and manpower. Supply Chain Management has allowed business nowadays to not just
have productivity advantage alone but also on value advantage. Strategies for Reducing Cost and
Improving Service' states, 'Productivity advantage gives a lower cost profile and the value
advantage gives the product or offering a differential 'plus' over competitive offerings.'
Greyhound introduced ISUZU bus into its fleet which are more fuel efficient than the other
buses. Through maximizing added value and also reduce the cost in the same time, more
innovation can be added to the product and process. Mass manufacturing offers productivity
advantage but through effective supply chain management, mass customization can be achieved.
With mass customization, customers are given the value advantage through flexible
manufacturing and customized adaptation. Product life cycles also can be improved through
effective use of Supply Chain Management. Value advantage also changes the norm of
traditional offerings that is 'one-size-fits-all.' Through Supply Chain Management, the more
accepted offerings by the industry to the consumers would be a variety of products catered to
different market segments and customers preferences.´

O
!*$(+.$+#*!

³The relationship between a supplier and buyer can be a complex one. Each party wants to
maximize its time, resources, and cash investment; these may be competing priorities that can
strain the relationship. All successful companies build strong relationships with their suppliers.
Companies are not isolated entities that simply purchase goods and services from individuals
who happen to be able to supply them at that particular time. Companies typically make larger
purchases. In reality, successful companies recognize the need to build bridges between their
organization and the vendors that they work with by establishing strong buyer/seller
relationships. Supplier relationships are different from simple purchasing transactions in several
ways. First, there can be a sense of commitment to the supplier. Greyhound has a long relation
with VOLVO; the bus manufacturer .VOLVO is providing Customized buses for the greyhound
which are more fuel efficient and eco friendly. Greyhound Australia is the country¶s only
national coach operator and services 1100 destinations daily. Carrying more than 1.3million
passengers annually, the company which is more than a century old, boasts an impressive safety
record. Greyhound is relying on Bridgestone for their tyre supply. Bridgestone not only provide
them with quality tyres ,but also provide after sales service for them. ³

!-&%!&!($

³The main areas for improvement in the passenger bus lines, is the supplier relationship and the
customer satisfaction .Greyhound is now relying mainly on a single supplier for the supply of
various parts. This ideology needs to be changed as it has many drawbacks especially the quality.
Since there is no other suppler supplying them parts ,a small issue with supplier can result in
huge loss to the firm. The strategic choice of using multiple suppliers at this level is not
necessarily solely based on cost but on the suppliers ability to provide a reliable service
customized to the needs of the company Another area they need to concentrate is the customer
satisfaction. Customer is considered as god in service industry. They have to make more
arrangements for satisfying the customers by increasing the facilities, Especially increase the
facilities.´

ë
Ê(Ê*#(

³Greyhounds vision is to carry passengers with great comfort at low cost. To achieve this they
also need to reduce the operating cost .For reducing the cost they need to restructure their supply
chain in such a manner that it creates efficiency. For providing this they have to regulate the flow
of information and resource between the different layers of the community. This can be done
only through coordinating different suppliers and establishment of communication channels .´