In the complex landscape of international brewing operations, efficient customs management plays a vital yet often overlooked role in maintaining smooth supply chains. When AB InBev's Diekirch facility encountered significant challenges following Luxembourg's customs portal upgrade, the impact rippled through their operations. On the recommendation of the Luxembourg Customs Authorities, AB InBev engaged Vivansa to develop and implement a declaration filing solution, called eOUI, that would respect both operational needs and compliance requirements.
Context and challenges
The evolution of Luxembourg's customs authority towards paperless processes created a cascade of operational challenges for the Diekirch facility. A process that had previously been manageable suddenly demanded time-consuming operations for a single electronic declaration, creating immediate pressure on the facility's customs team as they struggled to keep pace with the brewery's substantial daily shipment volume.
Standard enterprise software lacked the specialised capabilities needed for excise-related processes, while custom development appeared prohibitively complex. Successful automation required an uncommon combination of business expertise and specific knowledge of the Luxembourg Customs Authorities' central systems — specifically their B2G (Business-to-Government) channels for customs and excise declarations — which led AB InBev to Vivansa's proven experience in this field.
Vivansa's mission
Our approach began with a thorough analysis phase to understand AB InBev's workflows, pain points, and excise compliance requirements. Rather than pursuing complex and costly in-house development, Vivansa proposed a more pragmatic path: leveraging our established cloud-based platform as the foundation and building specialised excise declaration services on top of it. This new service layer, named eOUI, was designed to address AB InBev's requirements for automated excise declaration filing and processing, offered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution.
The implementation phase spanned six months, with particular attention paid to eOUI user interface refinement, ensuring the solution would be intuitive for staff while maintaining all necessary controls and validations — carefully balancing automation opportunities with compliance requirements.
Outcomes
Once in production, the solution has consistently processed more than 400 monthly shipments while maintaining exceptional reliability with 99.95% availability. Excise declaration staff now handle their workflows efficiently, with clear visibility into the process and significantly reduced administrative overhead. Beyond the immediate operational improvements, this project served as a valuable proof point for the eOUI solution's capabilities and adaptability.