Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's leading brewing company, faced significant challenges in complying with complex EU Excise Movement Control System (EMCS) requirements for their Austrian operations. Following the success of Vivansa's earlier implementation based on the eOUI product at their Luxembourg brewery, AB InBev engaged Vivansa to implement a similar automated solution for their Austrian facilities.
Context and challenges
AB InBev's newly opened Austrian facilities faced increasing pressure to comply with EU excise regulations while maintaining operational efficiency. Automated processing of excise declarations was required to sustain the high volume of movements and the complexity of requirements. The company needed a solution that could automate the filing of excise declarations with Austrian Customs authorities while integrating seamlessly with existing ERP systems.
The primary challenges included implementing a proper Master Data Management foundation, establishing secure and reliable connectivity with Austrian Customs systems, developing robust data exchange between internal systems, and ensuring the entire solution met stringent compliance requirements — all within a tight timeframe to coincide with the establishment of the legal entity in Austria. The solution had to support both inbound and outbound excise movements, processing approximately 650+ movements monthly.
Vivansa's mission
Our approach began with a detailed analysis of AB InBev's requirements and operational environment, after which we recommended our cloud-based eOUI SaaS solution. The implementation was structured in four key phases:
- Master Data Management foundation — data models for traders and products, and loading the initial data set
- Business-to-Government (B2G) services — secure communication protocols and authentication for interaction with Austrian Customs authorities
- Business-to-Business (B2B) integration — data transformation, mapping, and reasoning capabilities for seamless data exchange with AB InBev's systems
- Comprehensive testing and deployment — factory acceptance testing, end-user testing support, and careful monitoring during transition to live operations
Outcomes
The implementation was completed successfully, meeting all performance and reliability requirements. The system now processes approximately 650+ excise movements monthly with an exceptional 99.95% availability rate, providing improved customs-compliance processes, enhanced operational efficiency, and reduced administrative overhead. The platform's modular architecture ensures easy scalability, and based on this success, discussions are underway to extend the solution to additional AB InBev facilities across Europe.