Supplier engagement in Tanso: Efficiently capturing Scope 3 & CBAM emissions data

The importance of supplier engagement for Scope 3 and CBAM

Supplier engagement is becoming increasingly important in the context of modern climate reporting. The majority of emissions fall under Scope 3 and occur in upstream and downstream processes—outside a company’s direct control. To ensure accurate emissions accounting, companies rely on reliable data from their suppliers.

Regulatory frameworks such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) demand significantly greater transparency and traceability across the entire supply chain. CBAM, in particular, obliges importers to collect and report specific emissions data related to their upstream products.

Companies that fail to provide this information on time or in full risk facing penalties, supply chain delays, or reputational damage.

To use limited sustainability management resources strategically and effectively, targeted collaboration with suppliers is essential. Active engagement across the supply chain and the collection of primary data are fundamental to identifying decarbonization potential and establishing effective risk management within the company.

Challenges for manufacturing companies

A key issue in supplier management is often the low level of supplier engagement and delayed responses—particularly challenging for companies with a large supplier base. In addition, many industrial companies still rely on manual processes without centralized tracking, which limits transparency and makes it difficult to maintain a clear overview of the current status.

Responses often have to be recorded manually, making the process not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. The result: high administrative effort, increased risk of delays, and potential inaccuracies in data collection—especially in the context of regulatory requirements such as CSRD or CBAM.

A structured, digital approach to supplier management is therefore increasingly becoming a key success factor.

Sustainable supply chain management in Tanso‍

With Tanso, the entire process is efficiently and scalably digitalized. A centralized request management system provides a complete overview of supplier response status and progress at any time—eliminating the need for cluttered Excel spreadsheets or manual email communication. Tanso’s scalable data management and hotspot analytics enable users to identify the most relevant suppliers for primary data requests, ensuring that sustainability resources are used effectively.

Emission factors, Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs), and CBAM-relevant data can be requested directly within the supplier’s application interface. Suppliers can submit their data without prior registration and receive in-tool guidance on calculating relevant values—such as CBAM emissions data. Additionally, supplier data can be smoothly imported into Tanso, centrally managed, and directly linked to emission factors and activity data, enabling centralized control and automated workflows.

Automated processing ensures consistent data flows, reduces error sources, and increases efficiency throughout the process. At the same time, response rates to data requests improve significantly—a key success factor for reliable and scalable sustainability reporting across the supply chain.