Every Villanova ESG engagement is graded against one published yardstick: the Supplier Evidence Maturity Model (SEMM). It answers the question that decides contracts in EU–Brazil supply chains: how far is this supplier's evidence from being usable in a European buyer's decision?
This is advisory work. It is not an audit, certification, legal opinion, emissions verification or a guarantee of buyer acceptance — and every deliverable states that boundary.
Why a maturity model — and not a checklist
Checklists ask whether a document exists. Buyers, banks and regulators ask something harder: whether the record would survive their review — current, scoped, owned, consistent with the operation, and readable by someone who was not in the room. SEMM grades that distance, so a supplier, a buyer and an advisor can talk about the same file with the same words.
The five levels
Level 0 — Absent
The evidence the request requires does not exist, or cannot be located. The answer to the buyer would be silence.
Level 1 — Fragmented
Records exist but are scattered across inboxes, spreadsheets and suppliers of suppliers. Reconstructing an answer is a project every time.
Level 2 — Organised
Records are collected and filed, but not mapped to the questions buyers actually ask — completeness without readability.
Level 3 — Decision-ready
Each likely buyer question is linked to the record that answers it, with owner, date, scope and source. A CFO can defend the file in one meeting.
Level 4 — Continuously managed
The file is a living asset: expiry control, update calendar, and a register of what changed and why. The next request is an export, not an emergency.
Public and citable. The authoritative definition — dimensions, grading criteria and worked examples — is deposited with a DOI on Zenodo, alongside 18 technical reports. Your committees can read exactly how a grade was produced. No black-box scoring.
How SEMM is used
- In every review. The Supplier Evidence Review and the dedicated CBAM, EUDR, clause and product-data tracks all deliver a SEMM-graded file.
- By buyers. European procurement teams use the levels to compare suppliers on the same scale — see for European buyers.
- By your own team. Score yourself first with the executive materials below.
Questions we hear first
Is a SEMM grade a certification?
No. It is an advisory grading against a published methodology — comparable and defensible, but not an accredited certification and never a guarantee of buyer acceptance.
Can we use SEMM internally without an engagement?
Yes — the model is public and citable. The whitepaper below explains the levels and criteria; many teams self-score before deciding whether a review is worth their money.
Where do most suppliers land?
In our engagements to date, most files enter between levels 1 and 2 — real records, weak readability. The commercial jump is from 2 to 3.
Want your file graded? Send the buyer request you received — we reply with the priority risks and the recommended next step, within 1 business day.
Start the scope assessment →Read the model itself: the SEMM whitepaper (PDF, gated) · or self-score with the CFO Checklist and Readiness Matrix.