Wondering how to respond to a supplier survey? You're in just the right place! In this article we will walk you through the steps and best-practices for responding to supplier surveys.

When responding to a survey, you can do the following:

The survey process begins with an activation email through which you or a colleague can accept the survey request. Keep in mind, only a single user can respond to a survey on behalf of your company (you can forward response to a new owner later on if needed). 

Once you've followed the activation link for the first time, you'll be asked to sign up for a free Toxnot account if you have not already. This will give you access to our free chemical hazard database and will allow you to respond to the survey request. *After you sign up, be sure to check your email and follow the activation link to complete your account, login, and accept the survey request.

Now that you've accepted the survey request, you're ready to start entering your data! Keep in mind, the surveys you receive from your customers may vary, but this will give you a good idea of how to complete the survey. 

The first page you see will look something like this. To continue through the survey, you should select "Next Step". Note that if you believe someone in your company or supply chain is better fit to respond to this survey, you can forward it to them with the "Forward Response to New Owner" button at the bottom of the page. 

Supplier Questionnaire
Depending on the type of survey you receive, the next page will be titled Supplier Questionnaire. Overall supplier questionnaires request information about your company and processes. They may be customized by your customer to include text responses, multiple choice questions, or attachment requests. Click "Answer Questionnaire" to begin filling out requested information. Fields may be marked as Required by the sending user, and you will need to provide a response before submitting your survey.

Material Data
Also depending on the type of survey you receive, you may be directed to the Add Material Data page. This is where you will find substance data requests for specific details about one or more of your materials.

To make changes to the material name, description, or photo for your material select edit next to this section. This will be seen by your customer when selecting and incorporating your material.

To make substance data changes you can edit directly in your web browser, or choose to Import your material information from an Excel spreadsheet, CSV file, or even an SDS PDF. For more information on importing, see Import Your Data.

Here you can either select to enter BOM data manually or import via SDS/spreadsheet.

If you enter BOM data manually, you will first be given an example BOM preview that you can close out of to enter your data.

You will enter your BOM data on the right hand side of the table in the blank fields and it will populate into the BOM table on the left. Columns that say "Required" in yellow will need to be filled out before you can submit the data to the manufacturer you are working with.

You will then be prompted with an instructions page where you can change the enter into the work flow of answering the material information.

Make sure you fill out all required fields or else you will not be able to submit the survey.

Step 1. Custom Questions

Step 2. Answer Material Questions

Step 3. Attestation

Here are some things you should know:

When editing substance data you can:

Sometimes, you will have a custom substance that's not in Toxnot. In that case, you can search and if there are no results, click "Add to My Substances".

At that point, you will be taken to your custom substances area. Add a new substance via the add substance button.

If you are adding a biological substance that doesn't have a Chemical Registry Number (i.e. wood), you can use a filler like "No RN" or "N/A" in the Chemical Registry Number field.

Then you can use the back button in your browser or click on "Fill out surveys" to return to survey and search for this new chemical you have added.

Then you can search for your new chemical and add it to your survey response.

Here you can indicate how you would like to publish a passport to the Toxnot Exchange. This creates a unique record for your material in the database and will provide your current and future customers with easy access to the material data that they are seeking. You have the option to publish a passport as either unlisted, restricted, or public. If you publish as unlisted, nobody will see your material data except for you. You can also come back to this step later on to publish a passport.

On the last page you are presented with the option of copying your survey response data into your own Toxnot Materials Library. This is a great opportunity to store your data for future use, whether that is updating your data with new formulations, or using it to respond to other surveys. We highly encourage copying your data into your library if you have not already.

Do you have a question about the workflow or issues you've found? 

Use the Intercom chat service in the bottom-right of your screen to connect to a Toxnot Customer Success Engineer, and we'll get back to you with the information or help you need. 

Toxnot Subscriptions make it possible for you to save and share material and product information, generate product reports, summarize hazard information across your catalog, send your own surveys, and much more! 

Check out a Free Account to see what Toxnot has to offer.