WEITNAUER migrates to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud

WEITNAUER, a Swiss tobacco wholesaler operating across Switzerland and Italy, moved its on-premises NAV platform to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud with Awara IT as implementation partner. The project focused on preserving NAV business logic while modernizing infrastructure, standardizing processes across two countries, and embedding IQOS-specific regulatory and excise requirements for local markets.

The implementation delivered a single cloud ERP instance with localized compliance, centralized master data, and Power BI reporting. The result: faster month-end close, fewer manual reconciliations, and more timely excise and VAT reporting — enabling the finance and procurement teams to focus on operational decisions rather than tactical data handling.

Müşteri / Sektör / Ülke

WEITNAUER is a Swiss tobacco wholesaler distributing tobacco heating products (including IQOS) and related tobacco products across Switzerland and Italy. Operating in the distribution sector within Western Europe, the company is a mid-market distributor with complex tax and excise requirements and cross‑border inventory flows.

İş zorluğu

WEITNAUER’s legacy on-premises Dynamics NAV system had been heavily customized over years to accommodate tobacco‑specific flows and IQOS local rules. These customizations created technical debt and made upgrades costly. The environment lacked standard cloud features such as centralized identity, secure remote access, and integrated Power Platform reporting.

Operationally, finance and procurement worked with fragmented master data between the Swiss and Italian operations. Month-end close and excise reporting were manual and time consuming, stock visibility across borders was inconsistent, and the sales/CRM touchpoints did not integrate reliably with back-office financials. WEITNAUER needed a migration path to Business Central cloud that preserved business logic while reducing operational risk and ensuring legal compliance in both jurisdictions.

Neden Dynamics 365 seçildi

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was the logical choice because of its continuity with Dynamics NAV (minimizing functional rework) and its cloud-first architecture that supports centralized management, security, and scalability. Business Central also provides modular finance, procurement, inventory and sales functionality that aligns with distribution use cases while enabling native integrations with Power Platform and Microsoft 365 for reporting and productivity.

Selection criteria included: minimal disruption to existing NAV business processes, proven localization options for Swiss and Italian tax/excise rules, strong integration capabilities (APIs and connectors) for logistics and e‑invoicing, and a partner with Dynamics NAV/BC migration experience. Awara IT was chosen as implementation partner for their track record on NAV-to-BC migrations and knowledge of local regulatory needs.

Uygulanan modüller

• Dynamics 365 Business Central: Core Financials (GL, AP, AR)
• Procurement and Purchase-to-Pay
• Sales Order Management and basic CRM integration
• Inventory and Warehouse Management (batch/lot tracking)
• Excise and VAT handling for tobacco products
• Fixed Assets and Intercompany postings
• Power BI operational and financial dashboards
• Azure AD / Microsoft 365 identity and SSO

Entegrasyonlar

• Data migration from on-premises Dynamics NAV
• Local excise/tax reporting interfaces (Switzerland & Italy)
• Italy e-invoicing (SDI) outbound interface
• Logistics provider EDI for carriers and distributors
• Power BI reports and Power Platform flows
• Azure AD / Microsoft 365 for SSO and user provisioning

Yerelleştirme ve uyumluluk

Awara IT ensured Business Central met the specific legal and tax requirements for Switzerland and Italy. For Switzerland this included excise and tobacco-specific reporting formats and workflows used by customs and tax authorities. For Italy the implementation included compliant e-invoicing (SDI) outbound flows, VAT posting rules, and language/local formatting for Italian statutory documents.

Localization also covered multi-currency posting, country-specific tax codes, and audit trails required for tobacco distribution. Where standard Business Central localization did not cover IQOS-specific reporting fields, Awara IT implemented controlled extensions that preserved upgradeability while remaining auditable for local regulators.

İş değeri

The migration to Dynamics 365 Business Central delivered measurable operational improvements and reduced compliance risk. Finance gained faster, auditable month‑end cycles and automated excise reporting, which reduced exposure to penalties and improved regulatory transparency. Procurement and inventory teams benefited from clearer stock visibility across Switzerland and Italy, lowering stock transfers and reducing working capital.

From an IT perspective, the cloud migration reduced maintenance overhead and improved security posture through Azure AD integration and Microsoft-managed platform services. Centralized data and Power BI reporting improved executive decision-making with near-real-time financial and operational KPIs.