Company-Level vs. Product-Level CMRT: What’s the Difference?

A company-level CMRT reports conflict minerals information across a defined company, business unit, or supplier population. A product-level CMRT connects that information more directly to specific products, components, or bills of materials.

The right approach depends on your reporting scope, customer requirements, supply-chain visibility, and how precisely you need to trace tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TG) information.

Company-Level vs. Product-Level CMRT at a Glance

A company-level CMRT is therefore broader, while a product-level approach provides greater granularity.

What Is a Company-Level CMRT?

A company-level CMRT collects information across a defined reporting population.

The reporting scope may include:

• A legal entity
• Business units
• Products or product groups
• Relevant suppliers
• A defined reporting period

Supplier responses are consolidated to provide an overall view of 3TG sourcing within that scope.

This approach can be useful when the reporting requirement does not require mineral information to be traced to an individual product.

However, the broader the reporting population, the harder it can be to determine which supplier or smelter information applies to a particular product.

What Is a Product-Level CMRT?

A product-level CMRT connects supplier and mineral information to a specific product or component.

The data relationship can look like:

Product → Component → Supplier → 3TG → Smelter/Refiner

This provides more granular traceability than an aggregated company-level declaration.

Product-level reporting can be particularly useful when customers request information about the mineral sourcing associated with a specific product, component, or bill of materials.

The trade-off is that it requires more detailed supplier and product data.

What Is the Difference Between Company-Level and Product-Level CMRT?

The main difference is scope and traceability.

A company-level CMRT answers a broader question:

What 3TG sourcing information applies across the defined reporting population?

A product-level approach answers a more specific question:

What 3TG sourcing information applies to this particular product or component?

This distinction matters when the same supplier provides materials or components for multiple products.

A company-level declaration may establish that a supplier has reported certain smelters or refiners, but it may not show which of those facilities are associated with a particular product.

Product-level mapping can provide that additional connection.

When Is Company-Level CMRT Reporting Appropriate?

Company-level reporting can be appropriate when:

• The reporting scope is defined at company or business-unit level
• Supplier information does not need to be attributed to individual products
• Customers accept company-level declarations
• The organization is managing a broad supplier reporting program
• The objective is to establish an overall view of 3TG sourcing

The key is to define the reporting population clearly.

A company-level CMRT should not be treated as a substitute for product-level traceability when a customer or internal requirement calls for more granular information.

For the broader CMRT completion workflow, see How to Complete a CMRT.

When Is Product-Level CMRT Reporting Appropriate?

Product-level reporting becomes more relevant when the organization needs to connect mineral information to specific products or components.

This may include situations where:

• Customers request product-specific declarations
• Supply-chain risk needs to be assessed at product level
• BOM or component information is available
• Different products use different suppliers or materials
• The organization needs more granular traceability

Product-level reporting requires the underlying data to be connected correctly.

If supplier information cannot be mapped to the relevant product or component, simply collecting more CMRT files does not create product-level traceability.

How Does Product-Level CMRT Reporting Work?

A product-level process typically requires several datasets to be connected.

1. Identify products and components

Determine which products, assemblies, or components are within scope.

2. Map relevant suppliers

Connect suppliers to the products or components they provide.

3. Collect CMRT information

Request the relevant 3TG information from suppliers.

4. Validate supplier submissions

Review CMRTs for completeness, consistency, and facility information.

For more detail, see CMRT Smelter Validation.

5. Connect minerals to facilities

Where applicable, connect reported 3TG information to the relevant smelters and refiners.

6. Maintain the relationship

Retain the connection between:

Supplier → Component → Product → CMRT → Smelter/Refiner

This is what makes the resulting dataset useful for product-level analysis.

Company-Level vs. Product-Level CMRT: Which Should You Use?

There is no single approach that fits every reporting program.

Use company-level reporting when your reporting scope and stakeholder requirements can be satisfied with an aggregated view.

Consider product-level reporting when you need to understand how supplier and mineral information relates to individual products or components.

The decision should be based on:

• Reporting requirements
• Customer expectations
• Product complexity
• Supplier structure
• Available BOM and supplier data
• Required level of traceability

The important point is to define the required level of reporting before starting supplier data collection.

How CMRT Scope Affects Data Management

The reporting approach also affects how compliance teams manage supplier data.

With company-level reporting, teams can consolidate supplier declarations within a defined reporting population.

With product-level reporting, teams need to maintain additional relationships between supplier, component, product and mineral information.

That makes data quality and version control more important.

For example, if a supplier changes its CMRT response, the organization needs to understand which products or components are affected when the data is being used at product level.

CMRT Reporting and Smelter Validation

Regardless of whether the reporting scope is company-level or product-level, supplier submissions still need to be reviewed.

Validation can include:

• Checking CMRT completeness
• Reviewing smelter and refiner information
• Checking facility identifiers
• Reviewing inconsistencies
• Following up on supplier data gaps
• Maintaining supporting evidence

For a broader overview of CMRT reporting, see the CMRT Reporting Template guide.