The Expo is coming to an end… I feel nostalgic already, yet full of confidence for what comes next. What a success! What a brilliant example of what the city of Shanghai is becoming! I have lived here for over 12 years; I have to admit, I never really liked the place that much. Now I do! That’s what the Expo did for me!

When trouble is solved before it forms, who calls it clever? When there is victory without battle, who talks of bravery? (Du Mu, late Tang Dynasty, commenting on Sun Tzu’s Art of War)

With the Shanghai World Expo in full swing and Beijing’s ambition to become a “world city” gaining more international media coverage, we can sense renewed interest, bordering on frenzy, in FM circles. I have, in the past few weeks, taken part in several debates on the emerging Chinese Facility Management market, discussions usually involving starry-eyed foreigners hoping to sell their products and services to the “huge” Chinese market…

The trend started several years ago, but nowadays everybody is talking about “Lean”. Not denying the benefits of this approach, which from my maintenance point-of-view is nothing but a generalization of the TPM principles, I am by nature very wary of today’s over-hyped concepts…

With its “Better City – Better life” theme, the Expo 2010 is a paradoxical symbol of sustainability, knowing that most of the pavilions will be dismantled after 6 months… Maintenance has clearly not been the top priority, as first-time China investors struggled with construction issues.

Welcome to the second issue of our Maintenance in China newsletter! I am pleased to say that the first edition, sent last month to around 70 subscribers (most of them Siveco customers) and read by another 210 (according to web statistics), received good feedback. Let’s continue and hopefully improve, with more contributions from partners and customers!