For a vehicle manufacturer expanding in Europe, the final mile between factory release and registration is data. Every vehicle identification number must be represented by a complete electronic Certificate of Conformity, matched to the correct type approval, protected with the required digital signature or electronic seal, and delivered through the route required by the relevant authority.
VOYAH, Dongfeng Motor Corporation's premium smart electric-vehicle brand, had already established a growing presence across European markets. The next challenge was operational: build one eCoC workflow for both the European Union and the United Kingdom without creating a separate manual process for every market.
Working with Nota Sign, VOYAH connected eCoC generation, IVI XML validation, XAdES signing, authority submission, status tracking, and evidence retention in one production workflow. The authority-facing integration completed acceptance testing and entered live operation, giving VOYAH a repeatable foundation for European vehicle-registration delivery.
The challenge
eCoC was becoming a market-access workflow
A paper Certificate of Conformity can be reviewed by a person. An eCoC must be understood by multiple systems before a vehicle can move forward.
For VOYAH, the required data originated across homologation records, whole-vehicle type approvals, product systems, production data, and market-specific registration operations. The EU route required structured IVI XML, a compliant electronic seal, and submission through a connected National Access Point. The UK route used the IVI 2.0 foundation but added VCA-specific schema elements, approval-authority codes, account controls, and separate test and production API environments.
Before the new workflow, teams spent an average of 30 minutes preparing, checking, signing, and releasing an eCoC for one vehicle. A schema error, mismatched approval reference, missing field, or invalid signature structure forced the handoff to restart across homologation, IT, and overseas operations. New authority connections were treated as individual projects, taking up to eight weeks to design, test, and approve.
The business risk was larger than document administration. An eCoC exception delayed vehicle registration, dealer delivery, revenue recognition, and the launch experience in a new market.
"We did not need another place to upload and sign a file. We needed one operating path from approved vehicle data to an eCoC that the authority receives, validates, and accepts."
— Head of Overseas Homologation, VOYAH
The solution
one production path for EU and UK eCoC delivery
Nota Sign combined automotive eCoC consulting with signing infrastructure and authority-integration support. Instead of adding a signature at the end of a fragmented process, the teams designed the complete path around five controls: generation, validation, trust, delivery, and exception management.
1. Turn type-approval data into governed IVI XML
Nota Sign's eCoC generation advisory helped VOYAH map whole-vehicle type approval data, vehicle categories, manufacturer and representative details, production attributes, and VIN-level records into a controlled IVI 2.0 data model.
The workflow defines which source system owns each field, which values are inherited from the approved type, which values change by vehicle, and which rules must be applied before an eCoC can be released. Version control is built into the process so corrections create a traceable new record rather than overwriting the original submission.
This changed eCoC generation from spreadsheet assembly into a repeatable system transaction.
2. Validate EU and UK eCoCs before signing
VOYAH uses Nota Sign's eCoC validation APIs to check files before they reach an authority.
For EU submissions, the validation layer checks the IVI XML structure, required data elements, field formats, vehicle-category rules, approval references, VIN data, manufacturer identity, representative details, version numbers, and signature readiness.
For UK submissions, the same service validates against the VCA's UK IVI schema and the GB- and UKNI-specific elements added to the EU structure. It also checks the fields needed for the VCA test and production routes before the file is released.
Validation responses are returned as structured error codes with the affected field and correction guidance. Homologation and IT teams can resolve the issue in the source workflow instead of interpreting a generic rejection after submission.
3. Apply the right European trust to every XML record
Once an eCoC passes data validation, Nota Sign applies an eIDAS-compliant organizational electronic seal and creates the required XAdES signature structure directly on the XML record.
The seal is bound to the approved manufacturer or representative identity used in the vehicle type-approval process. Centralized certificate controls manage authorization, validity, signing policy, and evidence without requiring a user to handle a USB token for every vehicle.
The same governed signing method supports VOYAH's EU and UK eCoC paths, while route-level rules determine the exact validation and delivery requirements.
4. Connect securely to registration-authority routes
Nota Sign supported VOYAH through authority onboarding, test planning, credential setup, secure connection design, message formatting, submission logic, and production acceptance.
For the EU, the workflow submits signed IVI XML through the configured National Access Point and supports authority-specific integration requirements, including the established RDW route. For the UK, VOYAH can validate and submit UK IVI files through the VCA eCoC API, with distinct credentials and controls for the pre-production and live environments.
Every submission receives a status. Accepted records move into the completed state. Validation exceptions are routed back to the responsible system and owner with the authority response attached. Corrected files are resubmitted with the right version relationship and a complete audit history.
5. Give headquarters one view of every eCoC
VOYAH's overseas business, homologation, IT, and operations teams now work from a shared control layer rather than separate email threads.
The operational view shows the VIN, approval reference, eCoC version, market route, validation result, seal status, submission time, authority response, and resubmission history. Evidence packages preserve the original XML, signed XML, certificate chain, signing result, validation response, submission log, and authority receipt.
That visibility gives headquarters a consistent way to manage both day-to-day exceptions and the rollout of additional European markets.
"The biggest gain is predictability. Our teams can see whether a vehicle record is ready, why it is blocked, who owns the next action, and whether the authority has accepted it."
— Director of Digitalization, VOYAH
The results
faster releases and a repeatable route to the next market
With Nota Sign, VOYAH reduced average eCoC preparation and release time from 30 minutes to under six minutes per vehicle—an 80% improvement.
Automated EU and UK checks now identify data, schema, and signature issues before submission. Ninety-seven percent of eCoCs are first-pass ready when they leave VOYAH's workflow, reducing rework between homologation, IT, and overseas operations.
The authority-facing production integration passed acceptance, and accepted submissions can now be tracked from source data through registration delivery. With generation rules, validation APIs, electronic sealing, and authority connectors already standardized, VOYAH reduced the setup time for an additional EU or UK route from eight weeks to three.
The impact reaches beyond compliance:
- Overseas operations can release registration data without coordinating a manual signature for every VIN.
- Homologation teams focus on genuine approval exceptions instead of repetitive file checks.
- IT maintains one governed integration pattern across EU and UK requirements.
- Management can see whether eCoC readiness will affect market launch, vehicle delivery, or dealer operations.
- New markets inherit a proven control model instead of starting with a blank implementation plan.
VOYAH now treats eCoC as part of its international operating infrastructure: a connected, measurable workflow that travels with the business as its European footprint grows.
About VOYAH
VOYAH is Dongfeng Motor Corporation's premium smart electric-vehicle brand. Built around intelligent electric mobility, the company serves customers across a growing international network, including European markets such as Norway, Denmark, Finland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
As VOYAH scales internationally, standardized digital operations help connect headquarters, homologation teams, technology systems, local partners, and registration authorities without losing control of the vehicle-level record.
