Collecting DPP Data From Suppliers

In DPP projects the largest line in both budget and schedule is not software but collecting data from suppliers. Half of them will not answer the first request, and some answers will be incomplete. The good news: response rates respond strongly to process design.

A five-step process

1. Prioritise

Not every line in your bill of materials matters equally. Apply three filters: regulatory necessity, contribution to the result (the 80% of carbon), and supplier criticality.

2. Build the request template

One page, an explanation per field, an example answer and a deadline. Make fields coded wherever possible; free text is both error-prone and untranslatable. See DPP data fields.

3. Choose the channel

Email plus a spreadsheet is the usual start. Past 50 suppliers, a portal significantly reduces the chasing burden. See starting DPP with spreadsheets.

4. Follow up

First reminder at 7 days, second at 14. Hand non-responders to the procurement team — a commercial relationship beats a technical email.

5. Validate

Before accepting data: unit checks, logic checks (do shares total 100%?), document checks (is the certificate still valid?). See DPP data quality management.

Tactics that raise response rates

• Keep it short. Every extra field costs responses.
• Explain why. "Our access to the EU market depends on this" works.
• Say what you will do with it. State whether the data becomes public or stays restricted. See protecting trade secrets.
• Ask in their language. A local-language form measurably improves responses.
• Reward early answers with preferred supplier status.

A typical request template

When supplier data does not arrive

1. Build a temporary baseline with secondary data and mark the field as estimated.
2. Investigate alternative suppliers.
3. Make the data clause a condition at contract renewal.

Never publish an unevidenced value as if it were confirmed.

Frequently asked questions