The term “Made in China” makes one think of increasing local competition. As far as our business is concerned, it more likely means potential partners. Moreover, I would say we welcome more competitors in this high-potential market… where we sometimes feel a bit lonely! At the same time, our local content is very high, which is one of our strengths: our Shanghai R&D center, dedicated to mobility and “4.0” solutions, was setup in 2008.

After the factory was setup, the priority was naturally to ramp up production, not to optimize maintenance. The company’s management team was however well aware of the importance of maintenance and initiated discussions with Siveco as early as 2014 during the startup phase. The topic gradually gained traction and became a priority at the end of 2015, with a clear need to improve maintenance efficiency and to keep costs under control.

Using BIM (Building Information Modelling) for Operation & Maintenance has become a hot topic in the last few years, but it is never implemented in practice. One reason is a lack of understanding of maintenance by engineering companies, BIM vendors and related companies. Another is the lack of suitable technological tools.

On May 12th, Siveco China organized a free training for customers under enhanced maintenance support. Customer Service Manager Sunny Wang conducted this session, which three companies attended.

In this issue, we are pleased to share the results of our 2017 Maintenance in China survey. With 493 respondents, this 5th edition of the survey, conducted with Shanghai University’s Sino-European School of Technology, is by far the largest of its kind in China.

Launched in 2008 and now in its 5th edition, the “Maintenance in China” survey is a joint project between the Sino-European School of Technology of Shanghai University (UTSEUS) and Siveco China, the country’s largest maintenance consultancy. It is by far the most comprehensive survey of its kind.