Portrait: Mark Smet

We are interviewing the versatile Mark Smet, who has taken on many different roles throughout the years. 

Back in time: 1989 – today

Mark has seen Aucxis evolve from a small specialised company into one of the major E-Trade and RFID players worldwide. When he was 25 years old, he started as a QC engineer at Aucxis, which was then still Schelfhout Computer Systemen. Five years later, he joined the Field Service department, where he installed various systems at customers worldwide. Another five years later, when he was 35 years old, Mark became the head of his department, where he could transfer his practical knowledge and experience. He always found great satisfaction in making an actual contribution to a project. Driven by this interest, he later assumed the role of Project Manager, which gave him a global overview of numerous projects. 

Currently, Mark serves as the first point of contact within our Support department. He is an experienced professional in a team dedicated to delivering good support to our customers. His tasks include answering questions, providing technical information, resolving urgent problems and performing preventive maintenance ‘on-site’ all over the world. 

Tento falar sempre na lingua do cliente

“I always try to speak the customer’s language,” Mark notes, taking his language skills for granted and not highlighting them, even though they are incredibly powerful. He is fluent in French, English, German, and even Portuguese, which he learned over six years of evening school — this talent is valuable every day. About himself, he says that he is helpful, patient, stress-resistant and he has strong logical thinking skills. These are qualities that both we and our customers definitely recognize in Mark, our troubleshooter! He adds that the most rewarding part of his job is being able to help a customer with a problem, whether it involves hardware or software. This can be achieved only by focusing on teamwork and good communication — key strengths within our Support department. 

One of the four weeks abroad

About a quarter of the time that Mark works for Aucxis, he spends abroad. He has considerable autonomy over his work schedule, which helps maintain a good work-life balance. The international character of the company and the collegiality are key reasons why Mark still very much enjoys working at Aucxis. He likes conducting on-site visits all over the world for customers who have maintenance contracts (SLAs). “Traveling long distances and interacting with different cultures and local contacts, from Australia to Brazil, broadens your horizons as a person,” he points out. 

Board member of Melmuz, a springboard for young and emerging musicians

In his free time, Mark serves as a board member of the non-profit organisation Melmuz, an association that supports and assists young and emerging musicians. They act as an intermediary between artists and events, with the goal of literally giving them a stage. The initiative was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, a testament to Mark’s dedication. “It takes a lot of time, but here too, this is where his life motto finds full expression: Combining the useful with the pleasant.”