Unlocking the Full Value of SMETA Audits with Sedex
Tomas Novotny
Sustainability Expert
14 May 2025
About 6 mins
For procurement and sustainability professionals tasked with managing supplier compliance, relying on static SMETA audit PDFs is increasingly becoming a liability rather than an asset.
While these offline reports provide a basic snapshot of compliance, they represent only a fraction of the value that SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) can deliver when accessed through a dedicated platform. Many organisations are missing critical insights, efficiency gains, and risk management capabilities by operating outside the Sedex Platform where SMETA truly flourishes.
The hidden limitations of PDF-only SMETA audits
If your organisation currently receives and manages SMETA audit PDFs outside a centralised platform, you’re likely experiencing several significant challenges:
Verification vulnerability
When relying solely on PDF reports, how can you verify their authenticity? PDF files can be altered or falsified, leaving you vulnerable to potential fraud or misrepresentation. Without a secure verification system, you’re making decisions based on data you cannot fully trust.
Limited visibility beyond the snapshot
PDF audits only show a single moment in time – they provide no visibility into ongoing improvements or real-time status changes. This point-in-time approach leaves you blind to what happens after the audit is completed.
Manual tracking burden
Tracking corrective actions across numerous supplier PDFs creates a significant administrative burden. Without automated tracking tools, there’s no efficient way to verify closed non-compliances or monitor improvement progress.
Fragmented historical data
Companies working with offline PDFs lack access to complete audit history and assessment data, making it impossible to track supplier performance trends over time. This prevents you from making data-driven decisions based on long-term patterns.
Communication barriers
With PDFs stored across email chains, shared drives and individual computers, collaborative remediation with suppliers becomes unnecessarily complex. There’s no centralised space for all stakeholders to monitor and contribute to improvement efforts.
Getting Full Value from Your SMETA Audits
SMETA, powered by Sedex, is the world’s most widely used ethical audit methodology, providing comprehensive assessment of workplace conditions across global supply chains. By focusing on both local laws and the ETI Base Code, SMETA ensures the highest protections for workers while creating comparable data across businesses regardless of size, location or industry.
However, the full strategic value of SMETA is only realised when accessed through the Sedex Platform, which transforms static reports into a dynamic risk management system.
From uncertainty to verified confidence
As a Sedex member, you gain access to non-compliance criticality assessments that aren’t available in offline PDFs. Only APSCA approved firms and CSCA level auditors are allowed to conduct SMETA audits and the governance of this is managed and integrated in the Sedex Platform.
From snapshot to continuous visibility
With Sedex, you gain real-time visibility into audit results within 14 days – significantly faster than manual PDF sharing processes. More importantly, you can continuously monitor supplier improvement progress rather than waiting for the next annual audit cycle.
The difference is stark: while PDF-only users are reviewing static documents, Sedex members can track real-time improvements and corrective actions. This transforms compliance from a periodic checkbox exercise into an ongoing process of continuous improvement.
From manual tracking to automated efficiency
By streamlining due diligence with standardised processes and ready-made assessments, Sedex’s Platform helps organisations reduce manual compliance efforts by up to 70%, saving thousands of hours previously spent on managing supplier data and audits.
In practical terms, this means automating due diligence saves time and reduces manual work while providing clear audit trails for regulators and stakeholders.
From isolated documents to pattern recognition
When audits exist only as isolated PDFs, it’s nearly impossible to identify broader patterns across your supplier network. Sedex members can analyse trends across their entire supply chain, transforming isolated audit data into actionable intelligence that informs strategic decision-making.
The platform delivers smarter decision-making through built-in analytics tools that help you identify which issues need attention first and prioritise actions based on data rather than intuition.
From reactive to collaborative improvement
Unlike pass/fail certifications, SMETA encourages open dialogue and transparency between businesses. Collaborative Action Required (CAR) findings help suppliers and buyers work together on complex issues like living wages that require multi-stakeholder solutions and may span multiple years.
When CARs are raised, buyer members should prioritise resolution of these issues based on a salient risk approach. Buying companies should assess their own roles and responsibilities in the closure of these findings, especially considering any increased financial costs and how these may relate to the buying company’s own purchasing practices.
This collaborative approach is virtually impossible to implement effectively through PDF exchange alone.
Real-world impact: Beyond compliance to strategic advantage
The benefits of managing SMETA audits through the Sedex Platform extend far beyond operational efficiency. As these case studies demonstrate, it creates tangible business value:
Suntory achieved a 32% improvement in supplier compliance by leveraging the Sedex Platform to track and manage SMETA audit data.
Molnlycke Health Care successfully leveraged Sedex to manage ESG risks across their supply chain, demonstrating how the platform can scale effectively for global operations.
Aryzta significantly improved their supply chain visibility by moving beyond PDF-based audit management to the integrated Sedex Platform.
SMETA 7.0: Enhanced value through digital integration
The recent launch of SMETA 7.0 represents the most significant update to the methodology since its creation, and many of its key improvements are specifically designed to work in conjunction with the Sedex Platform:
SMETA 7.0 introduces the Management Systems Assessment (MSA), which looks at how well a site manages its policies and practices. This helps businesses find and fix potential problems more effectively by focusing on root causes of issues, not just the symptoms.
The new methodology also introduces “Collaborative Action Required” (CAR) findings for challenging issues that one company can’t solve alone (like living wages or child labour). This mechanism helps suppliers and buyers work together on systemic problems and supports companies in meeting new laws like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Additionally, SMETA 7.0 features improved reporting formats and better connection with the Sedex Platform for real-time updates, enabling easier tracking of corrective actions, faster decision-making, and reduced duplication of effort between audit platforms and internal systems.
What you gain with Sedex membership vs. PDF-only approach
The table below highlights the critical differences between accessing SMETA audits as a Sedex member versus managing offline PDFs:
| Capability | Sedex Member | Non-Sedex Member (offline PDFs only) |
| SMETA audit report | ✓ | ✓ |
| Corrective Action Plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Non-compliances criticality | ✓ | ✗ |
| Access to audit results within 14 days | ✓ | ✗ |
| View results in real time | ✓ | ✗ |
| Non-compliance corrective action plan | ✓ | Limited/Offline only |
| Full audit history | ✓ | ✗ |
| Non-compliance progress and closure | ✓ | Limited/Offline only |
| Sensitive Issues | ✓ | ✗ |
| Adverse media/NGO investigations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Grievance investigations and outcomes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Adjusted risk scores including audit results | ✓ | ✗ |
| Tracking of improvement over time | ✓ | ✗ |
| Proactive communication if an audit firm is suspended or terminated | ✓ | ✗ |
Take the next step: Unlock the full value of your SMETA audits
If your organisation is currently managing SMETA audits through PDFs alone, you’re only accessing a fraction of their potential value. By becoming a Sedex member, you can transform static reports into dynamic risk management tools that drive continuous improvement throughout your supply chain.
The Sedex Platform enables you to:
- Verify audit authenticity with confidence
- Track corrective actions in real time
- Analyse patterns across your entire supplier base
- Collaborate effectively with suppliers on improvement initiatives
- Demonstrate progress to stakeholders through comprehensive reporting
To learn more about how Sedex membership can enhance the value of your SMETA audits, contact our team today for a personalised demonstration of the platform and its capabilities.
