What is Sedex and Why Are We a Part of It?

Pellacraft Values

We believe that people come before profit. We show this in our personal service, with dedicated account managers, but we extend it to every aspect of our business as well. We're passionate about everyone we work with, both suppliers and clients. Part of this is our commitment to best practices, promoting workers rights and social justice.

That's why we're proud members of Sedex! We thought it would be good to give you an idea of what Sedex does so you can see why we're so happy to be involved.

What is Sedex?

Sedex officially launched in 2004. It defines itself as "a global non-profit membership organisation making it simpler to do business that's good for everyone". Sedex is a collaborative platform allowing companies to share data on responsible sourcing of supply chains to more than 40,000 members in 150+ countries. Members can share data, standards and certifications to make informed choices.

Sedex is 'owned' by members so the focus is on providing responsible sourcing data, tech solutions, products and services that members need.  The varied expertise helps bring members together with stakeholders to drive conversation between different industry standards and methodologies.

 “everything we do is designed to make it simpler for our members to do business that’s good for everyone.”

How does Sedex audit?

Sedex doesn't conduct audits itself, it's simply a platform. It does offer SMETA, one of the most widely used social audit procedures in the world. This is offered open-source, so non-members can use it, to encourage industry wide standards. It provides globally recognised ways to assess responsible supply chain activities. This includes labour rights, health and safety, the environment and business ethics.

SMETA doesn't offer a certification but a common framework businesses can use to set standards.

What does this mean?

SMETA is an ethical audit system so rather than auditing things like quality of garments, it looks at goals we should continuously be looking to improve such as workers health and environmental impact.

Because of its open nature, Sedex means companies can hold each other accountable on standards and continuously strive to improve.

So when you see someone is a member of Sedex you know they are taking steps to be the most positive impact they can be in their industry.