All Collections
For Suppliers
Filling Out Surveys: Q&A and Resources
Filling Out Surveys: Q&A and Resources

This guide includes survey resources and frequently asked questions for suppliers responding to email requests.

Joe Marino avatar
Written by Joe Marino
Updated over a week ago

Did you just receive an email request to fill out a survey for one of your customers? We're here to help and to provide you with all the resources you need to get this checked off your to-do list!

Questions about accepting a survey request:

DO I NEED TO HAVE A 3E EXCHANGE ACCOUNT TO FILL THIS OUT?

Yes, you will need to create a free 3E Exchange account or log into an existing 3E Exchange account to complete the request. After pressing the "View this Request" button in the email, you will be prompted to either log in or create an account.

DO I HAVE TO PAY TO FILL OUT THIS REQUEST OR PAY TO GET A 3E EXCHANGE ACCOUNT?

No. You can sign up for a FREE 3E Exchange account and complete the survey request free of charge. That being said, 3E Exchange has a handful of paid subscription features that you can check out here if you are interested.

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FILL THIS OUT. HOW DO I FORWARD IT TO SOMEONE ELSE IN MY COMPANY TO COMPLETE?

If you do not have the resources to fill out the survey request, you can forward the request to a coworker or sub supplier.

  • If you have NOT yet clicked on the green button to accept the survey, you can simply forward the email itself to a colleague.

  • If you HAVE clicked on the "View this request" button and accepted the survey, you will need to forward the survey from within the request by clicking on "Forward Response to New Owner" shown here:

If you have the intention to fill out the survey but do not currently know the requested information; you may request an extension and inform your manufacturer that you received their response and intend to reply with the information by X date:

Questions about filling out a survey:

WHAT IS A SUPPLIER SURVEY?

If you've received a Supplier Survey through 3E Exchange, chances are that one of your customers is asking you for information about your materials so they can better understand their supply chain. This information is then used to complete a variety of needs, including transparency reports such as Declare Labels, Health Product Declarations, or LEED v4 Material Ingredients. Entering requested information directly into 3E Exchange enables your customers to use the data quickly and saves you time in subsequent requests. The intention of sending a supplier survey is to gain a better understanding of one's supply chain as easily and efficiently as possible.

DO YOU HAVE PRIVACY AND SECURITY MEASURES YOU TAKE TO PROTECT MY DATA BEFORE I ENTER IT INTO 3E EXCHANGE?

You have control over who can view your survey responses. Unless you choose otherwise, only the requesting user and their team can view your response.

If your formulation is a trade secret, you can input a CAS # then mark it as proprietary which will hide the # while still allowing your customer to screen against regulatory lists. In this scenario, only hazard and non-identifying information is visible to your customer.

Also note that our standard terms of service include a non-disclosure agreement. This means we will never disclose your data unless you explicitly decide to disclose it yourself. While using 3E Exchange, you have total control of your data, who can see it, and if/when you would like to share it.

For more details, please visit our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We also have a help article on Privacy and Confidentiality that provides a detailed look at how proprietary information is displayed in 3E Exchange.

CAN I LEAVE MY 3E EXCHANGE ACCOUNT AND COME BACK TO CONTINUE WITH MY SURVEY? HOW DO I FIND IT?

Yes, you can certainly leave and return. All of the work you put into completing your survey will be automatically saved. You can find your survey in the following two ways:

  1. Click on FILL OUT SURVEYS on the left toolbar

  2. Alternatively, you can access your survey requests via the "Get started" tab in our navigation bar:

**Just a note that if you have not formally accepted the survey from the email request, you will not see it in either of these two options. You will need to go back to the email request first to accept it formally.

WHAT SORT OF INFORMATION WILL I BE ASKED IN THE SURVEY?

3E Exchange surveys are customized by your customer and can vary widely. They can ask both supplier-level questions and product-specific questions. That being said, these are the common types of requests you might see:

  • Fill out material composition data (chemical registry numbers and weight data)

  • Attach files (ex: SDS (safety data sheet), compliance records, testing information)

  • Fill out compliance questionnaires (Cal Prop 65, REACH, RoHS, etc.)

  • Provide information about your internal sustainability initiatives around water usage, carbon emissions, recycled content, or take back program options for your products and materials

Feel free to accept the survey request and look at the questions you are being asked before working on it. You can always leave the survey and come back to your saved data! Here is a basic overview and video of responding to a supplier survey and here is more detailed information on how to fill out a survey step-by-step.

WHAT IS THE PASSPORT LIBRARY THAT'S MENTIONED AT THE END OF THE SURVEY?

While you're responding to supplier surveys, in the "Finalize" step, you will have the option to publish your passport to the Passport Library at three different accessibility levels. This means that you can publish a record of the material composition data, sustainability data, compliance determinations, and more in a manner that will be easy to share!

Accessibility levels that you will choose between include public, restricted, or unlisted passports. You can then reuse this data and save time by pointing your customers to your material passport record in the future.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M DONE WITH THE SURVEY? DID IT SUBMIT TO MY CUSTOMER?

Please make sure you go through all of the steps of the survey workflow until you see the "Finalize" button fill-in.

WHY AM I UNABLE TO SUBMIT MY SURVEY?

Surveys are built by your customer by utilizing optional OR required questions. Therefore, if you skip over the required questions, you will not be able to submit the survey and will receive this message.

Skipping over a required question will not populate a green check mark next to the section and the finalize button will not be able to be clicked until all sections are complete.

Note that if your customer is requesting an ingredient disclosure to be filled out, they can also mark certain columns of data as optional vs. required. You will need to fill out all columns with a red asterisk.

I AM A 3E EXCHANGE USER. HOW DO I USE AN EXISTING PRODUCT OR MATERIAL RECORD TO ANSWER A MATERIAL BOM SURVEY REQUEST?

This is great and will save you some time! Simply follow the instructions here to import a library BOM into a survey. Be sure to answer all required fields because the customer might be requesting more information outside of what you already had built out in 3E Exchange.

Within the ingredient disclosure, there is a button in the top right ("Import Data From Existing Material") that will allow you to import from your product/material library.

I'M STILL CONFUSED - WHERE DO I GO FOR HELP?

Feel free to reach out to the 3E Exchange support team for questions about the software platform navigation and survey access.

  • Email - support@3eco.com

  • OR click on the chat box at the bottom right of the software application between 6am and 4pm MST for live support

If you have questions about the content or context behind the questions themselves, please reach out to the customer who sent you the request.

Did this answer your question?