AB InBev’s Austrian newly opened facilities were facing increasing pressure to comply with EU excise regulations while maintaining operational efficiency. Similar to challenges previously addressed for their Luxembourg plant, 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 their 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 mechanisms between internal systems, and ensuring the entire solution met stringent compliance requirements. Additionally, AB InBev needed the solution deployed within a tight timeframe to coincide with the establishment of their legal entity in Austria.

The solution had to support both inbound and outbound excise movements, processing approximately 650+ movements monthly. Given the business-critical nature of these operations, the system needed to deliver exceptional reliability and performance.

Vivansa was contracted by AB InBev to implement a comprehensive Customs compliance solution for their Austrian operations. Our approach began with a detailed analysis of their specific requirements and operational environment. Based on this assessment, we recommended leveraging our cloud-based eOUI SaaS solution to answer AB InBev’s business requirements.

Our implementation project was structured in four key phases, each with clear deliverables and milestones:

1. Master Data Management Foundation: Implementing data models for traders and products and loading the initial data set;
2. Business-to-Government (B2G) Services: Establishing secure communication protocols and authentication mechanisms for interaction with Austrian Customs authorities;
3. Business-to-Business (B2B) Integration: Developing data transformation, mapping, and reasoning capabilities to ensure seamless data exchange between AB InBev’s systems and the eOUI platform;
4. Comprehensive Testing and Deployment: Including factory acceptance testing, end-user testing support, and careful monitoring during the transition to live operations.

Throughout the implementation, our team of business and IT experts worked closely with AB InBev’s stakeholders to ensure the solution met both their technical requirements and business needs.

The implementation of the eOUI solution for AB InBev’s Austrian operations 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. The solution provides AB InBev with a significant competitive advantage through improved customs compliance processes, enhanced operational efficiency, and reduced administrative overhead.

The platform’s modular architecture ensures easy scalability to accommodate increasing transaction volumes and provides the flexibility to adapt to evolving regulatory requirements. The semantic web foundation of the solution provides rich context to the transactional data, enabling more intelligent processing and improved decision support.

Based on the success of this implementation, discussions are underway to extend the solution to additional AB InBev facilities across Europe, further standardising their approach to Customs compliance and reinforcing their reputation as an industry leader in regulatory compliance.