Structuring Risk and Audit Across Teams: Haier Europe’s Journey

Haier Europe, part of Haier Smart Home—the world’s leading home appliance manufacturer—operates in over 45 markets across EMEA, with its headquarters in Vimercate, Italy. The company manages a portfolio of well-known brands including Candy, Hoover, and Haier, and employs more than 10,000 people in the region. The organization is held to high standards—not just in product quality, but in how it ensures transparency, regulatory compliance, and risk oversight across its regional and international operations—making the role of internal audit more essential than ever.

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The Challenge: Scaling Internal Audit Across Teams and Regions

When Arjan Man joined Haier Europe as Head of Internal Audit, the organization was already managing its control activities across multiple teams, including Internal Audit, Internal Control, and Quality. Each had its own way of working, shaped by their specific focus areas and responsibilities.

“My goal was clear,” Arjan says. “We needed a simple and effective system that could bring structure to our improvement actions, connect different teams, and help us monitor progress without relying on massive Excel sheets.”

As Haier Europe continued to grow, so did the need for more streamlined collaboration and a shared view of improvement tracking. While existing processes functioned well within teams, aligning them across departments and geographies was becoming increasingly important.

“We had many good practices already, but bringing everything together in one place was the next step,” Arjan explains.

Having successfully used CERRIX in a previous role, Arjan saw an opportunity to introduce a platform that would support a more integrated, transparent, and efficient approach—not replacing what worked, but enhancing it.

Implementing an Integrated GRC Platform: A Simple Start with a Big Impact

The initial implementation of CERRIX focused on creating a structured foundation—tracking audit reports, registering improvement actions, and enabling visibility across departments.

“What I liked about CERRIX was its clarity,” Arjan Man explains. “It’s not overloaded with features. It does exactly what you need—track actions, manage risk, and give people access to what matters.”

Although the full audit module hasn’t yet been rolled out, the platform is already used extensively—not just by the internal audit team, but also by other control functions including the internal control team, the quality department, and local audit teams in Italy.

This shift has helped Haier Europe move from isolated monitoring efforts to a more connected and consistent follow-up process, within a single, integrated environment.

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The Results: Driving Standardization and Collaboration Across Teams

With CERRIX, Haier Europe established a consistent and transparent approach to managing improvement actions across business units. What was once handled through various tools and formats has now been consolidated into a single platform—offering clarity, ownership, and operational consistency.

“Before, we had to go searching—checking in with people, digging through emails,” Arjan recalls. “Now we have one structured overview. That makes a big difference.”

Whether an audit leads to five or fifty findings, relevant actions are now clearly documented, assigned, and monitored within CERRIX. This structured approach ensures timely follow-up, reduces manual effort, and supports alignment across internal audit, internal control, and quality teams.

The shift has also strengthened cross-functional collaboration. Each team now has access to real-time data, enabling a more proactive role in managing their own responsibilities—without relying on manual reminders or check-ins.

Empowering Teams through Efficiency, Oversight, and Culture Change

For Arjan, one of the key advantages of CERRIX is how well it fits within a lean internal audit setup. The platform reduces manual work, supports consistency, and enables the team to operate more effectively without additional overhead.

“It gives us visibility and saves time,” he says. “We’re no longer chasing people manually. Now, the tool does the reminding—and people know they’re expected to act.”

Beyond efficiency, ease of use has also been critical to adoption. Teams across departments are more willing to engage with a system that feels intuitive and doesn’t get in the way.

“People don’t always love admin work,” Arjan says, “but at least they’re not frustrated with the tool. It’s intuitive, and that helps with buy-in.”

This new way of working has also introduced subtle, but meaningful, shifts in behavior. Teams are receiving automated reminders and can monitor their own follow-ups directly—without waiting for audit to prompt them.  

“Some teams weren’t used to actively monitoring their actions. Now they have the data available every day, every hour… they could play much closer to the ball….”

At the same time, Arjan emphasizes that technology alone isn’t enough to shift behavior. While CERRIX provides the structure and follow-up mechanisms, lasting impact depends on nurturing a mindset of proactive engagement.

“It’s a change process. CERRIX supports the behavior, but you still need to instill the mindset.”

A Foundation for Continuous Improvement

At Haier Europe, CERRIX has helped bring more structure and clarity to how teams manage audit findings and improvement actions. What started as a tool for internal audit has grown into a shared platform that supports consistency, transparency, and better follow-up across departments.

“You don’t need the fanciest tool,” Arjan adds. “You need one that works—and helps people take responsibility.”

Looking back, Arjan offers a few simple pieces of advice to peers who may be at the start of a similar journey:

“Know what you need. Adapt your process to the tool. And start small,” he says. “You won’t find a tool that does everything perfectly. But if you begin with the essentials and build gradually, you get value right away—and you keep momentum.”

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Arjan Man is the Head of Internal Audit at Haier Europe, where he leads the Internal Audit and Risk Management function across a broad, multi-country business environment. With over two decades of experience in internal auditing, he brings a pragmatic, business-oriented approach to strengthening governance, risk oversight, and cross-functional collaboration.