Sedex membership numbers
Is anyone able to enlighten me as to the difference between a Sedex membership number starting with Z and one starting with P?
Can you please give an example of those numbers?
It actually explained in their portal ( if you are already a member)
Are you having 2-Pillar or 4-Pillar SMETA audit?
Thanks for getting back to me.
I have looked on the Sedex portal but I couldn't find anything relevant, and to be honest I didn't think it was a particularly intuitive site.
We are just going through the application process and I wondered if the Z prefix signified that the membership process was not complete?
As for 2-Pillar or 4-Pillar, I'm not sure, it isn't something I am involved with and the person who is dealing with it is on leave at the moment.
Thanks for getting back to me.
I have looked on the Sedex portal but I couldn't find anything relevant, and to be honest I didn't think it was a particularly intuitive site.
We are just going through the application process and I wondered if the Z prefix signified that the membership process was not complete?
As for 2-Pillar or 4-Pillar, I'm not sure, it isn't something I am involved with and the person who is dealing with it is on leave at the moment.
The Z prefix definitely isn't related to incomplete membership status. I'd thought they'd standardised to ZCxxxxxxx being a membership number and ZSxxxxxx being site number, so for example my Sedex account might be ZC1234567, and my manufacturing site within this account is ZS7654321 (N.B. You can have multiple manufacturing sites within a single account).
IIRC you get your membership/site number once you've paid and been accepted onto the platform - it's then entirely up to your company to complete the relevant details, as Sedex themselves don't asses these. The purpose of providing them is that you can link to your customers so they can assess them.
The 2-Pillar / 4-Pillar thing relates to the audit type/scope if you go for the full SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) process that involves actual physical audits. This isn't required to be a member of Sedex - lots of companies simply use it as a way to share with their customers the ethical data they've entered into the site questionnaire section, and/or to receive this data from their suppliers.
I agree the site isn't the most intuitive to use (and often doesn't load properly - if it's displaying oddly you might need to refresh the page a few times...), but if you're struggling you could try calling the helpdesk. The number is in the footer at the bottom of the main Sedex page, and for the European helpdesk I think it's a UK number.
The Z prefix definitely isn't related to incomplete membership status. I'd thought they'd standardised to ZCxxxxxxx being a membership number and ZSxxxxxx being site number, so for example my Sedex account might be ZC1234567, and my manufacturing site within this account is ZS7654321 (N.B. You can have multiple manufacturing sites within a single account).
That's really helpful, thank you. We have a ZC number. The reason I thought it must have a different significance is because the SAQ I am completing asks for a P number.
I expect we aren't rushing to complete it because it was for one particular customer who hasn't chased. We already hold other "Fair" certifications including Fair For Life, FairTrade and Fair Wild, our biggest customer is B Corp certified and we have been ethically audited for Innocent.
It might well be the case that the customer hasn't updated that part of the SAQ for a while. I'd give your ZC number in this scenario, as that definitely is a "real" Sedex member number, and they can always come back to ask for something different if that isn't want they want.
I've just had a look on sedex and found a document from 2014 relating to smeta reports it states:- "If the site wants the report to be uploaded to Sedex, they will have an S and a P number. They can get this from their Sedex account. If it’s not for Sedex this can be marked “not supplied” but auditor should always recommend that the site join as a B-member."
Guide-to-Completing-a-SMETA-Report.pdf (sedex.com)
Appears to be something that you need if you are having an actual audit as opposed to just completing the questionnaire.
Hope this gives you a bit more clarity
I've just had a look on sedex and found a document from 2014 relating to smeta reports it states:- "If the site wants the report to be uploaded to Sedex, they will have an S and a P number. They can get this from their Sedex account. If it’s not for Sedex this can be marked “not supplied” but auditor should always recommend that the site join as a B-member."
Guide-to-Completing-a-SMETA-Report.pdf (sedex.com)
Appears to be something that you need if you are having an actual audit as opposed to just completing the questionnaire.
Hope this gives you a bit more clarity
That's an old report format - they're now on version 6.1.
It does at least lend credibility to the idea that the S/P references are historical, prior to the move to the ZC/ZS numbers.
This is the current equivalent of your link, where you can see that section has been replaced by the current ZC/ZS format: https://www.sedex.co...-Report-6.1.pdf