Siveco China steps up its evangelization campaign on the role of maintenance in China

In the past two months, Siveco China has been particularly active on the conference circuit, presenting papers, joining panel discussions and more generally sharing its 10 years' experience improving maintenance in China. As companies and government institutions in China are becoming more aware of maintenance and especially of its impact on facilities lifecycle, energy consumption, business losses and public safety, Siveco's pioneering position in this market is allowing the company to share unparalleled real-life experience, with case studies and measured Return on Investment, with customers all over China. These events were considered part of Siveco China's 10 Years Anniversary Roadshow, which took the Siveco teams all over the country during 2014.

On October 22, a Siveco team led by General Manager Bruno Lhopiteau joined the Chongqing, City of the Future conference, co-organized by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the French Chamber of Commerce in China (CCIFC), in the city of Chongqing. The event was focused on two main axis, Heavy Industry and Municipal Utilities. Bruno Lhopiteau presented brief case studies of successful clients in the west China region, including projects with Sichuan Lutianhua (chemicals), Chongqing Sino French Water (water treatment), Cofely Gient Energy Services (technical services) and Saint Gobain Proppant (process manufacturing). Bruno also joined the panel discussions with other experts from leading local and international companies. The presentation received a lot of attention, especially for its focus on real facts and Return of Investment (ROI), rather than theory. During the event, Siveco also declared its continuing commitment to the West China region, with a growing Chengdu office and frequent travels to Chongqing to support local customers.

On October 27, Siveco's General Manager Bruno Lhopiteau was nominated to moderate the first panel discussion at the Innovation Week France-China 50, a major conference organized by the Sino-European School of Technology of Shanghai University. The Innovation Week offers a platform to all the participants, institutions, researchers, companies, students and citizens, to exchange ideas on the subject of "Innovative cities adapted to sustainable development in the digital age". During the panel discussion, Siveco shared specific experience working alongside major multisite property management companies in the Chinese market. At the end of the conference, Siveco also signed a new partnership agreement with Shanghai University, as part of the university Complex city lab, a trans-disciplinary research lab dedicated to the sustainable "city of tomorrow".

On October 28, Siveco's Operation Director Guillaume Gimonet and the firm's Facility Management team were present at the 2014 Sino-French Eco-cities Proseminar in Nanjing together with Siveco value-added partner TERAO, a specialist in green buildings involved in several eco-city projects in China. The two companies have joint experience in the ongoing municipal building rehabilitation project in Wuhan (see here for more information on this project), an innovative showcase project sponsored by development agency ADEME. This event was an excellent opportunity for further exchange between Siveco, Terao and other partners, together with officials and developers from Jiangsu province. For the first time after a decade of prestigious ecocity projects in China, maintenance has clearly become an area of concern, for which Siveco already has a lot of experience in this country.

On October 30, Siveco and partner Terao also joined the Wuhan, Sustainable City 2014-2049 seminar, dedicated to sustainable urban development of the city of Wuhan. During the seminar, experts from universities, government and private enterprises explore five main themes: planning, energy, urban mobility, environmental protection, nature and green spaces. The joint Siveco-Terao project team currently working on the Wuhan building rehabilitation program attended the workshop events, during which the project was also announced and kicked off with local officials.

On November 11, Siveco organized a customer sharing session in Chongqing, reflecting the growing importance of business in Chongqing and the west China region. Two key clients conducted presentations and demonstrations. Chongqing Sino French Water, who also kindly hosted the meeting at their head office, presented their use of COSWIN as the main asset management database and bluebee® for technician support, including inspections and network assets management. Cofely Gient Energy Management explained their business model and demonstrated the use of the entire bluebee® suite to manage their maintenance and energy service contracts throughout the region. Siveco Chengdu team attended the event and answered questions from the audience. We thank Sino French Water and Cofely Gient for their strong support during this small seminar and will continue to promote exchanges between our customers.

On November 13, Siveco was invited to the Transportation roundtable in Beijing with the French Transportation Minister, transportation officials and leading companies in the field. Siveco delivered a very short pitch on its approach to the local urban transportation market, promoting maintenance best practices through the utilization of Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), drawing on the company's experience in other parts of the world. Siveco's track record in automated driverless metro projects in Singapore (both mass transit MRT and light tail LRT projects) was also discussed. As Chinese metro operators have become more aware of maintenance, Siveco is working with leading partners to promote its solution, based on the same technology already widely used in other market segments in China.

On November 14, two Siveco Chengdu team members visited our customers at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum in Chengdu, an impressive display of mobility and sustainability technologies and practices. Many Siveco customers took part in this major event, including utility GDF Suez, optical lenses manufacturer Essilor, automotive supplier Faurecia, chemical producer Evonik, etc. Ecocity specialist Vivapolis, which works with Siveco via Terao partnership, conducted workshops on sustainable urban development. The event and exhibition offered great opportunities for networking with clients and sustainability experts.

On November 20, Siveco's GM Bruno Lhopiteau was invited to speak at the 5th Workplace & FM Asia Summit 2014 in Shenzhen. Bruno presented a paper on "Risk Prevention in the Chinese Property Market – Lessons from 15 Years in China, a contrarian view" on behalf of the Sino-European School of Technology of Shanghai University (UTSEUS), where he also lectures on Industrial Risk Management. The conference was organized by IFMA, the world's largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers. The conference clearly showed the two schools of thoughts in the Chinese FM market, which was the main topic of Bruno's presentation: one approach based on following a western model, using traditional software to support the organization; another homegrown approach, taking account the reality and needs of China, using software in a totally different way. This second approach was apparent in presentations by Siveco and Huawei. Bruno's paper received good feedback and many follow-up questions during the break.

This flurry of activity all over China demonstrates Siveco's lasting commitment to the development of the Chinese maintenance market, a commitment that grew stronger over the past 10 years. The Siveco China 10 Years Anniversary Roadshow will continue until the end of 2014.