The regulatory landscape for tobacco manufacturers requires meticulous management of excise declarations — a specialised field demanding both domain expertise and technical proficiency. This engagement illustrates how Vivansa's deep understanding of excise processes, combined with our technical capabilities in system integration, delivered a tailored solution for Landewyck Tobacco: a textbook example of digital transformation in a highly regulated industry.
Context and challenges
The high-volume production environment at Landewyck Tobacco's Luxembourg manufacturing facility required exceptional control over supply chain and logistics processes. The sensitive nature of tobacco products created substantial administrative overhead for their Tobacco Taxes and Excise Department. Recognising this burden, Landewyck initiated an internal project to automate their excise declaration processes.
Despite three years of effort, Landewyck continued to struggle to establish stable automated data exchanges with the relevant authorities. Under mounting pressure and following recommendations from regulatory authorities, Landewyck engaged Vivansa in March 2014 to leverage our specialised expertise in excise systems computerisation, with a clear mandate: resolve the ongoing issues and implement a reliable automation solution for their excise declaration filing processes.
Vivansa's mission
Our team of six specialists conducted extensive working sessions to understand Landewyck's existing environment and requirements. These assessments revealed that our cloud-based eOUI solution would effectively address their specialised excise declaration needs.
The implementation proceeded in two strategic phases. First, after a six-month fine-tuning period, we deployed the solution in "standalone" mode for managing excise declarations. This triggered the second phase — evolving from standalone to fully integrated operation by connecting eOUI with Landewyck's SAP ERP system. Completed in December 2016, this integration enabled complete end-to-end automation of the excise declaration filing process. Throughout the project, our team provided business and IT consulting, Business Process Modeling (BPM), system integration, and custom development.
Outcomes
The implementation has delivered tangible results. Landewyck improved its excise declaration processing capabilities while realising cost savings through higher automation and enhanced operational control. After about eight years in production, the solution continues to maintain high customer satisfaction, currently processing over 600 excise declarations monthly with a 99.95% availability rate.