Sedex has overhauled its platform to let suppliers map upstream connections tier by tier and confirm them before buyers see the data, as new survey figures show only 12% of organisations hold data from the majority of their second-tier suppliers.

The London-based supplier ethics platform released the mapping workflow alongside expanded risk scores covering 15 topics across more than 120,000 registered worksites. The updates land as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) raises compliance demands on apparel and textile buyers, and as major brands face due-diligence obligations that now reach beyond direct vendors.

How thin is visibility past Tier 1?

Sedex's own sample survey found just 12% of organisations hold data from most of their second-tier suppliers. Research from KPMG paints a similar picture: only 28% of businesses report a clear view into supply chain Tier 2.

The gap widens further upstream. Sedex data shows 15% of supply chain worksites have no measures at all to ensure their own suppliers or subcontractors meet required labour standards — a figure Sedex executives flag as the basis for the platform overhaul.

What changes in the mapping workflow?

Suppliers can now add and label upstream connections by tier, tying them to individual worksites rather than only parent companies. Before data flows downstream, the upstream supplier must confirm the connection — a step Sedex positions as a trust mechanism and accuracy check between trading partners.

Buying organisations access analytics dashboards that segment risk by tier, surfacing higher-risk suppliers and flagging weaknesses in mitigation that might otherwise stay invisible across extended sourcing networks.

Which risk pillars have expanded?

The Audit Risk pillar now draws on non-compliance patterns identified across more than 250,000 SMETA audits at 115,000 sites in 106 countries, incorporating the latest SMETA 7.0 data set. Risk scores are designed to reflect issues seen in actual audit findings rather than relying solely on contextual country data.

The Wages Risk pillar integrates wage findings from 70,000 site-level SMETA audits with expert external sources, producing what Sedex describes as inherent risk scores for worksites where pay may fall below legal thresholds.

A new environmental risk assessment feature consolidates worksite-level environmental data, helping users scope and prioritise due diligence and environmental management activities across their supplier base.

What are Sedex's leaders saying?

Sedex CEO Jon Hancock said: "Leaders are being asked to make increasingly important sourcing decisions in an environment that is less predictable than ever. That requires more than broad network models and head-office information — it requires data that distinguishes between every individual facility."

Hancock added that combining site-level data with richer risk insight lets corporate teams "prioritise resources to target the most significant gaps, risks or impacts across their supply chains."

Chief product and technology officer Duncan Ellis framed the upgrade as a decision-support tool: "The hardest part of supply chain sustainability risk management is knowing where to act first. By combining authoritative global sources with site-level audit data across multiple sourcing tiers, we've built a platform that turns that question into a clear, evidence-based answer."

The mapping and risk enhancements follow Sedex's recent release of a self-serve interactive tool that helps companies quickly identify which major supply chain and sustainability regulations apply to their operations.

The next pressure point for sourcing and compliance teams will arrive when brands require tier-labelled supplier data during standard vendor onboarding — not only when CSDDD-aligned diligence kicks in — a transition the platform now appears engineered to support.