Marc Verheyden

“The unexpected. That’s what I find challenging about the service profession.”

My Unisign Story: Marc Verheyden is Head of Service & After Sales. With no fewer than 17 colleagues, he supports our customers when their machines require service, spare parts or maintenance. Anywhere in the world.

Marc Verheyden started at Unisign 32 years ago as a trainee in the assembly department. ‘On Ash Wednesday,’ he laughs as a passionate carnival enthusiast. ‘But my supervisor at the time wasn’t there that day because he was prince carnival. I was told to come back the following Monday. During my traineeship, I quickly realised what I wanted: to move into the service department. And that’s exactly what happened.’

Service engineer

For seven years, Marc travelled the world for Unisign as a service engineer. But when his two children started to miss him more and more, he made the switch to office work. ‘After a brief stint at another company, I returned to Unisign in 2015. I was then in charge of the revision department for a few years. So I’ve seen all aspects of the service profession. In 2017, I was asked to become Head of Service & After Sales. I still really enjoy that role.’

The unexpected

“Unisign is anything but an average company,” Marc says enthusiastically. “You won’t find another machine manufacturer like us anywhere in the Netherlands. We create fantastic products here with a great team.”

For technical specialists looking for variety and dynamism, Marc’s department is the ideal working environment. ‘You never know what the day will bring. That unexpectedness is what I find challenging about this work. And then there are the international contacts, both as a service engineer and in our internal serviced department. With our team, we support Unisign customers worldwide. When a customer is satisfied and their machine is running smoothly again, those are our moments of success.’

Machine relocations and retrofits

Traditionally, the service department has been responsible for providing service and spare parts. In addition, it also carries out scheduled maintenance on a contract basis. However, customers are increasingly asking for machines to be relocated. Or for major repairs and overhauls to be carried out on older machines.

“Our service offering has expanded,” Marc explains “Some older machines are still mechanically in excellent condition. In those cases, retrofitting the control system can be an attractive alternative for customers instead of purchasing a new machine. Anyone might be able to dismantle a machine, but reassembling it and commissioning it is a different story altogether – especially when perfect geometry is required. That expertise is something we simply have in-house at Unisign. For these types of service projects, we increasingly work together with colleagues from our assembly and commissioning departments.”

Oops moment

Marc is proud of the position Unisign has built up as a machine manufacturer. He still fondly remembers his time as a service engineer. He cherishes one project in particular. ‘In 1997, I was involved in a major project for our customer ABB in Switzerland. They bought their first large Unisign machine. I travelled to Switzerland many times, first for commissioning and later for service and maintenance. I built up a very good relationship with the people there. Some of them are still working there.’

Has Marc ever made a blunder? He laughs: ‘You’d better ask my colleagues that.’ After a moment’s thought, he does recall one ‘special incident’: “I once quoted a new part at the standard sales price to a customer who actually manufactured that part as a supplier for us. That was definitely an ‘oops’ moment. Fortunately, they’re still a supplier to this day.”

SRV van

Marc doesn’t mind working long hours. A work ethic he inherited from home. His parents had an SRV van (mobile shop) and store in Venlo and worked six days a week. ‘Sundays were for bookkeeping. So they were basically busy with their business all week long. I saw my parents’ hard work up close and always helped out myself. That has really shaped me.”

And when he’s not working at Unisign, what does Marc do?
“I’m a real outdoor person. We have a caravan that we love to travel with – though, admittedly, not as often as we’d like. I’m also a loyal supporter of professional footballclub VVV in Venlo. I really enjoy going to matches on Friday evenings with a group of friends to wrap up the week together. At weekends, I prefer not to plan too much: a relaxed start, breakfast together, then heading into town or visiting my children. In 2018, I was adjudant of Vasteloavesvereiniging (carnival society) De Wien. Now I’m a member of the Council of Eleven. During carnival season, that keeps me a bit busier – but it’s only a few weeks a year.”

January 20, 2026