ESTS Approved as Higg FDM Validation Body, Expanding One-Stop Higg Sustainability Service Portfolio

With this new recognition, ESTS can now support clients across Higg FEM verification, Higg FEM training and Higg FDM data validation. The combined suite covers monthly dynamic environmental data tracking, annual environmental performance self-assessment and independent third-party verification, helping brands and factories build greater continuity and traceability in their sustainability reporting.

What Is Higg FDM?

Brands, manufacturers, and facilities use Facility Data Manager (FDM), from Worldly, to track monthly environmental metrics and progress towards targets. This enables brands, manufacturers, and facilities to collaborate more closely throughout the year on shared goals.

Source of the definition: Website of Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, SAC)

As a core data collection component of the Higg Index suite, it works alongside Higg FEM and Higg FSLM to form a comprehensive supply chain assessment framework covering both environmental and social-labor performance. Featuring high-frequency, lightweight and continuous monitoring, FDM helps shift from “annual review” to “monthly management”. It captures original resource consumption data – energy, water, waste, and wastewater, without complex system-level questions, and its automated dashboards visualize month-on-month and year-on-year trends, support target setting, and enable proactive, data-driven decision-making.

FDM validation is performed by third-party validation bodies approved by Worldly and can be delivered on-site, remotely, or through a combination of both. Importantly, FDM validation is not an environmental performance score or a certification under Higg FEM; it is an independent validation of the authenticity and accuracy of the data reported.

Higg FDM vs Higg FEM: Complementary, Not Replaceable

Higg FDM is not intended to replace Higg FEM. Instead, it serves as the data foundation for FEM, supporting ongoing monitoring that addresses the limitations of traditional annual assessments such as year-end data catch-up and weak retrospective traceability. This shift reflects a key direction in overseas brands’ supply chain management in recent years.

• Higg FEM is an annual comprehensive self-assessment covering management systems, compliance, chemicals, energy and water consumption, waste, and emission-reduction targets. It generates a score and rating and is used for third-party verification, customer audits, and qualification purposes.

• Higg FDM is a monthly quantitative data-tracking tool that collects original resource-consumption data without requiring complex system-level questions. Full-year accumulated data can be automatically imported into the quantitative sections of Higg FEM to support the annual assessment.

One-Stop Partner for Credible Environmental Data

By combining FDM data validation with Higg FEM verification and training, ESTS helps facilities improve data accuracy, streamline reporting, stay ahead of evolving sustainability regulations, and demonstrate verified performance to their customers. With this new recognition and drawing on Cotecna’s global footprint and sustainability expertise, ESTS is well-poised to support factories and brand customers with higher-quality, more traceable environmental data, enabling them to respond confidently to increasingly stringent buyer requirements.

To discover how ESTS and Cotecna can support your Higg FDM validation and broader sustainability goals, please feel free to contact Cotecna.

About ESTS

Extensive Standard Technical Services Co., Ltd. (ESTS) is a global certification body and audit firm with professional services covering social compliance, sustainability, green and low carbon, food safety, quality system, etc. We are committed to enhancing the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) competitiveness for brands and retailers supply chains, as well as to creating a transparent and reliable supply chain for our clients.

About Cotecna

For over 50 years, we have been supporting agriculture, food and pharma, minerals and metals, and consumer products supply chains all over the world. We provide testing, inspection, and certification services to help our clients navigate evolving regulations, ensure product compliance, and support their sustainability journey.