Re-entering the energy market

As some of our readers know, while I first came to China in the late 90s to work on a paper mill project in Suzhou, the rest of my career (after I moved here permanently in 1999, until the end of 2004, when we started the Siveco business) was dedicated to power utilities. I keep excellent memories of this period, working with friendly and competent people at various power generation projects (nuclear, hydro and coal-fired power plants) and later traveling in and out of China to develop similar business in other Asian countries (mostly India).

Siveco Group itself has a long history in the asset-intensive energy sector, with French state utility EDF-GDF as one of its very first customers. Despite the many changes in the French market in the past 20 years, Siveco continues to work with GDF SUEZ, the merger of state gas company GDF and private utility SUEZ, most recently with CMMS projects in their gas turbine power plants. Siveco has also done well in the oil & gas sector, carving itself a niche in countries such as Iran, Libya, Sudan (incidentally countries where Chinese companies are also very active) and working on complex joint-venture projects, often in partnerships with engineering companies (see this month’s case study of our RPII project in Malaysia with Chinese construction company CNEEC and automation vendor ABB).

When Siveco China was setup, we chose another path. The Chinese energy market for maintenance management systems, better known here as “EAM”, had already attracted all sorts of vendors, from international leaders (all of whom were to be acquired by giant IT firms, forever changing their focus from maintenance to IT), new comers who used China to built their global utility business (my former company is in fact the only example in this category!), to the usual riff-raff of followers and copycats, most of whom failed to build a sustainable business, until SAP and friends finally came to capture the biggest market share. Siveco chose to stay out of the local energy market, until the dust had settled. Instead, we focused on new markets – industrial plants and facilities management – inventing a new business model and becoming a few years later China’s largest maintenance consultancy.

I feel that the time has come to look into energy and utilities again. The market is ripe, as companies have experienced the limitations and failings of the so-called “EAM” projects. In fact, most projects have failed to deliver the results announced and people starts to understand why. At the same time, Siveco has build a strong credibility, with a proven approach to maintenance improvement through consulting services (including CMMS/EAM audits), mobile solutions running on top of various “EAM” systems and our own CMMS solutions when needed. Our track record speaks for itself. We will, in the coming months, target specific customers who may benefit from our approach.

Until then, this summer edition (July-August) of our monthly newsletter will focus on issues relevant to the energy and utility market. The Reliability article offers my personal view of “EAM” in utilities. The Partner section explains why we join forces with SPIE Oil & Gas Services, a company with a strong expertise working with oil and energy clients all over the world. The Customer Story features the RPII project, a gas turbine combined-cycled power plant built by Chinese EPC CNEEC for owner-operator Ranhill in Malaysia. Tips & Tricks talks about the “automated jobs” capability of our CMMS COSWIN. Finally, you will read our usual Latest News (lots of events).

It is now time to wish you all an excellent summer!

Bruno Lhopiteau
General Manager
Siveco China

Tags： CMMS、energy、EAM、power plant