Introduction and background
C.O.I.M. Group is a global leader in specialty chemicals, headquartered in Italy with operations across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The company develops and manufactures advanced chemical solutions—polyurethanes, polyester polyols, TPUs, and specialty resins—serving industries including packaging, automotive, construction, footwear, medical, and electronics. Known for its innovation-driven approach, C.O.I.M. Group combines technical expertise with deep R&D capabilities to deliver high performance and sustainable solutions to customers in more than 90 countries.
Setting the stage: Building audit from the ground up
When Stefano Fulgi, Group Internal Audit Manager, joined C.O.I.M. Group he was tasked with building the internal audit function from scratch. As the sole auditor, he needed to establish methodologies, embed a governance culture, and position internal audit as a strategic partner capable of anticipating risks and safeguarding long-term value. To meet these ambitions, C.O.I.M. Group recognized the need for a robust technology platform that would provide efficiency, scalability, and security across a global, fast-growing organization.
The selection journey: Why TeamMate?
After a rigorous evaluation of six vendors—gathering insights from the CEO, Procurement, IT, and Legal— C.O.I.M. Group selected TeamMate Audit for several key reasons:
- Rapid implementation: As a one-person audit team, Stefano needed immediate impact. TeamMate Audit offered fast deployment without the need to build systems from scratch.
- Unlimited scalability: TeamMate Audit accommodates large, diverse organizations, supporting subsidiaries with different IT systems or email domains.
- Configurability & control: TeamMate Audit was implemented in partnership with TeamMate experts. Once deployed, the solution remains highly autonomous, empowering end users to manage configurations themselves—allowing the solution to scale and evolve as their processes mature.
- Security & compliance: With operations in multiple regions, C.O.I.M. Group required stringent data privacy and cybersecurity assurance—TeamMate delivered.
- User friendly experience: Interactive dashboards and intuitive navigation simplifies audit monitoring, documentation management, and action tracking.
Efficiency, insight, and impact
The impact of TeamMate Audit at C.O.I.M. Group can best be understood as a transformation—not just of processes, but of what a one‑person internal audit function can achieve. Once the solution was implemented, the shift was immediate and noticeable. By automating previously time‑intensive manual work, Stefano was able to shift his attention toward higher‑value activities such as strategic analysis, risk anticipation, and insight generation. Audit workflows that had previously required significant coordination became streamlined and predictable audit workflows, creating a more consistent and mature audit environment.
This operational efficiency quickly translated into broader organizational gains. With TeamMate Audit, C.O.I.M. Group developed a tailored risk assessment framework that enabled continuous monitoring of risk across its global subsidiaries. Even as a solo auditor, Stefano found himself able to expand his annual audit coverage—conducting more audits without increasing workload—because the tool minimized administrative bottlenecks and accelerated key milestones like document collection, action tracking, and reporting cycles.
Collaboration with stakeholders has also evolved. Centralized documentation and shared dashboards brought new transparency to the audit process, establishing accountability and strengthening relationships across the business. The interface of TeamMate Audit is intuitive that business users could log in and immediately understand how to complete tasks or upload evidence—no training required—greatly reducing onboarding friction and internal support demands.
Beyond these core efficiency gains, additional strengths emerged as C.O.I.M. Group continued working with the platform. The ability to send a single documentation request to multiple recipients eliminated repetitive outreach and improved the speed and clarity of responses. Exporting data, particularly to Excel, became nearly effortless, and managing folders or workpapers was straightforward, leading to a cleaner, more organized audit environment. TeamMate Audit also offered the flexibility and configurability C.O.I.M. Group needed to adapt as risks evolved—whether adjusting workflows, updating dashboards, or modifying fields. This autonomy meant the internal audit function could refine its approach without relying heavily on external support.
Throughout implementation, C.O.I.M. Group experienced strong partnership from the TeamMate team, whose guidance and responsiveness ensured a smooth rollout. And critically, the platform met the organization’s high standards for cybersecurity and data protection—an essential requirement for an organization with complex global operations.
Looking ahead, C.O.I.M. Group views TeamMate as a scalable foundation for future growth. As the internal audit function matures, there is a clear opportunity to activate additional modules and capabilities. Stefano is particularly focused on leveraging advanced automation and AI features—such as TeamMate Analytics and the Business Rules Engine—to accelerate insight generation, identify emerging trends, and support real‑time continuous auditing.
In essence, TeamMate Audit has allowed C.O.I.M. Group’s internal audit function to evolve from a compliance‑driven activity into a strategic contributor. By equipping a one‑person audit team with enterprise‑grade capability, the platform has enabled faster operations, deeper insights, and a closer alignment with organizational strategy— strengthening overall governance while supporting sustainable, long‑term value creation.
Final reflections: Audit at lightning speed
For C.O.I.M. Group, TeamMate Audit has become a catalyst for operational excellence. Tasks that once took days can now be accomplished in hours. With scalable architecture, data driven insights, and flexible configuration, the platform empowers Internal Audit to deliver strategic value and support the organization’s growth trajectory well into the future.
