While preparing for this March issue, it suddenly occurred to us that this month our Maintenance in China newsletter has reached his 5 years birthday! Not just myself but all of us at Siveco are very proud of the achievements of this half decade, with 53 issues and 300+ articles, covering maintenance knowledge, reference stories, CMMS users tips and the most popular section according to our web statistics: various Siveco “gossips” – customer visits, Siveco parties, funny photos etc.

On behalf of the entire Siveco China team, I would like to wish you and yours a happy and prosperous Year of the Goat! 2014 has been a challenging year for many companies operating in China, partly due to regulatory issues. In the longer term, I believe this is encouraging as more and more companies come to recognize that maintenance, when optimized, can reduce cost and increase profit in hard times.

Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Siveco China. Our logo was modified to mark the event, we ran a marketing campaign and many festivities. The anniversary celebration is now over… We find ourselves all grown-up, having to face adult life… Our logo has now reverted to its previous version.

This Christmas time is the best ever for us at Siveco: Christmas is about family and we have been blessed with many newborn babies. Our Christmas tree will see 12 presents this year and next year, for the first time, we will have enough kids big enough to enjoy a real Christmas party for the Siveco families.

I hope you are doing well during this busy period. While I was in Seoul, South Korea, where Siveco sees growing activities in the infrastructure market (more on this in a future newsletter), my team launched the most aggressive part of the 10 Years Anniversary Roadshow, taking part in multiple events focused on sustainability, energy savings, eco-cities, etc.

It is a great pleasure and honor for me to write this month’s editorial. A Siveco China veteran, with almost 7 years of service, I been in charge of the “Maintenance in China” newsletter since its very first issue in 2010.