Siveco's GM Bruno Lhopiteau was interviewed by REDSTAR, the leading English-language magazine in Qingdao, in view of the upcoming seminar organized by Qingdao Business Leaders on September 28 on the topic of "Improving maintenance in China".

Founded in 2003, REDSTAR Times Media () is the only English language publishing & design company in Qingdao, and one of the very few in Shandong province in the north east of China (total population is about 100 million, the second largest in China). REDSTAR specialises in bilingual monthly magazines, innovative city guides, events, bespoke graphic and web design solutions. REDSTAR design studio doubles as a live music and visual arts venue.

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Full text of the interview:

Interview by Neil Bhullar

Bruno Lhopiteau, guest speaker at this month's Qingdao Business Leaders meeting, is the founder of Siveco China, a leading international maintenance organization. Here he tells why industrial maintenance is so important.

Awareness of maintenance is growing, albeit slowly. I see two main contributing factors. First, large multinationals, especially those that have been operating for over 10 years in China and operate multiple sites, have accumulated enough experience over time to realize it is not like "back home" (mature markets), where maintenance basically takes care of itself, or at least a maintenance culture exists and maintenance management resources are readily available. At the same time, high profile accidents that have received enormous media coverage in the past fews years, leading to a much greater awareness of maintenance at government level and in the public in general.

The domestic maintenance market is largely immature, technical services suppliers competing mostly on price and their customers are mostly concerned with direct cost, even though indirect costs or losses related to maintenance are much higher. We see a lot of companies trying to replicate Western models, an approach I believe is fundamentally flawed and the market is evolving quickly due to historical development, sheer size of the infrastructures to maintain, resource and skills constraints and the workers' attitude towards high-technology, to name just a few factors.

I am privileged enough to have been working here since 1997, probably the longest-serving foreigner in this field in China, which gives me a unique view of the situation. Our approach, that of using technology on people rather than on the equipment itself, is being adopted by major local players (our largest customer manages 3 millions square meters of property – huge by international standards) and experienced multinationals (companies like Saint Gobain, International Paper, Nokia) alike. China is slowly changing.

Bruno Lhopiteau will address the QBL meeting on 28 September at 6.30pm at Crowne Plaza. Nonmember registration is ¥150.