IMDS Reporting and Submission: A Step-by-Step Guide for Automotive Suppliers

IMDS reporting is the process of creating, validating, and submitting Material Data Sheets (MDS) to an automotive customer through the International Material Data System (IMDS).

For suppliers, a successful submission depends on more than entering material information. The MDS must accurately represent the delivered product, follow the applicable IMDS rules, contain the required material and substance information, and be submitted to the correct customer or organizational unit.

This guide explains the IMDS reporting and submission workflow, what suppliers need before creating an MDS, what to check before submission, and what to do when an MDS is rejected or requires correction.

What is IMDS reporting?

IMDS reporting provides automotive manufacturers with information about the materials and substances contained in supplied components.

The information can be used to support:

• Material compliance
• Restricted and declarable substance assessment
• GADSL reporting
• ELV-related requirements
• Customer-specific material requirements
• Recycling and end-of-life assessments
• Broader product and material compliance activities

IMDS reporting follows the physical supply chain. The material and component information reported in IMDS should represent the product in the state in which it is delivered to the customer.

For the broader compliance workflow, see our IMDS compliance guide for automotive manufacturers.

Who is responsible for IMDS reporting?

IMDS reporting responsibilities depend on the company's position in the automotive supply chain and the customer's requirements.

A supplier may need to:

1. Collect material information from its own suppliers.
2. Create or receive the relevant material data.
3. Build the component structure in IMDS.
4. Check the material and substance information.
5. Apply applicable regulatory and customer requirements.
6. Submit the MDS to the customer.
7. Respond to customer feedback or rejection.
8. Update the information when the product or material changes.

The information flow should broadly follow the product flow through the supply chain.

For example, a company receiving a component and performing a processing operation may need to forward the relevant IMDS information and submit information reflecting its own delivered product and part number.

What needs to be reported in IMDS?

IMDS reporting generally covers materials in their delivery state.

Depending on the product, the MDS can contain:

• Components
• Semi-components
• Homogeneous materials
• Basic substances
• Material classifications
• Substance concentrations
• Component and material weights
• Regulatory information
• Recyclate information where applicable
• Supplier and recipient information

Not every substance or process input belongs in the MDS. For example, processing chemicals that are consumed or cured out during processing are treated differently from substances present in the delivered product.

The exact reporting requirement can also depend on the customer.

Always check the applicable customer or OEM requirements before submitting.

Step 1: Determine what needs to be reported

Before creating an MDS, establish the reporting scope.

Start with:

• Customer requirements
• Part number
• Supplier code
• Product or component structure
• Material composition
• Relevant supplier information
• Applicable reporting requirements
• Required submission deadline

If the customer has issued an MDS request, use the request information as the starting point.

IMDS has supported MDS requests specifically to help customers communicate expected parts, suppliers, recipients, deadlines and other reporting information.

This reduces one common reporting problem: submitting the right data to the wrong recipient or for the wrong part.

Step 2: Collect material data from suppliers

The quality of the IMDS submission depends on the quality of the upstream material information.

For purchased components or materials, suppliers may need to provide:

• Material composition
• Material classification
• Substance information
• Weight
• Relevant regulatory information
• Applicable declarations
• Existing IMDS material or MDS references

A completed supplier questionnaire is not automatically a complete compliance record.

The information should be reviewed before it becomes part of the final MDS.

This is particularly important when material data is being collected across multiple supplier tiers.

Step 3: Create the material structure

IMDS materials need to represent homogeneous material composition where applicable.

The MDS structure can then be built from materials, semi-components and components depending on the product.

The correct structure matters because the customer needs to understand how the reported substances relate to the supplied component.

The official IMDS guidance distinguishes between materials, semi-components and components and provides specific rules for situations such as layered products and certain processing operations.

Do not build the MDS structure simply to make the submission pass a system check.

The structure should represent the actual product.

Step 4: Enter or reference the material data

Materials can be:

• Created by the user
• Received from a supplier
• Referenced from published materials
• Selected from applicable IMDS data

When supplier-created material information is available, using the appropriate supplier-provided data can help maintain consistency across the supply chain.

The IMDS system also contains published materials, but suppliers need to select and use material information appropriately rather than assuming that any published entry represents their actual material.

Step 5: Check substance information

Review the substance composition before submission.

Check for:

• Missing substances
• Incorrect substance percentages
• Incorrect material classification
• Unexpected substance concentrations
• GADSL-related declarations
• Regulatory information
• Confidential substance treatment where applicable
• Customer-specific requirements

This step is where many reporting problems should be identified.

A technically valid MDS can still require correction if the underlying material information is incomplete or inconsistent.

See our guide to common IMDS data quality problems in automotive material declarations.

Step 6: Validate the MDS before submission

Do not use the customer rejection process as your primary validation mechanism.

Before submitting, perform an internal review of:

Product information

• Part number
• Description
• Supplier information
• Recipient information
• Weight

Structure

• Correct component hierarchy
• Correct material references
• Correct homogeneous-material structure
• Appropriate semi-component usage

Substance data

• Complete composition
• Correct percentages
• Correct classifications
• GADSL-related information
• Applicable regulatory information

Customer requirements

• Customer-specific rules
• Required fields
• Submission deadline
• Recipient organization
• Required supporting information

The goal is to identify problems before the MDS reaches the customer.

Step 7: Submit the MDS

Once the MDS has been reviewed, submit it to the intended recipient.

Before selecting the recipient, verify:

• Company ID
• Organizational unit
• Supplier code
• Part number
• Customer request
• Submission deadline

Recipient accuracy matters because an otherwise correct MDS can still create a workflow problem if it is associated with the wrong customer or part.

IMDS has introduced functionality specifically aimed at reducing errors involving recipient-specific information and MDS requests.

Step 8: Track the submission

Submission should not be treated as the end of the process.

Track:

For larger supplier networks, this becomes an operational workflow rather than an individual reporting task.

Teams may need visibility into:

• Open submissions
• Pending customer reviews
• Rejected MDSs
• Supplier corrections
• Resubmission dates
• Outstanding requests
• Approval status
• Reporting deadlines

This is particularly important when hundreds or thousands of MDSs are being managed simultaneously.

What happens when an IMDS submission is rejected?

An MDS rejection should trigger a structured correction process.

1. Identify the rejection reason

Determine exactly what the customer rejected.

Examples can include:

• Incorrect material structure
• Missing substance information
• Incorrect weight
• Incorrect part number
• Missing regulatory information
• GADSL issue
• Customer-specific requirement
• Incorrect recipient information

2. Identify the source of the problem

Ask whether the issue originated:

• Internally
• With a direct supplier
• With an upstream material supplier
• From a regulatory or customer requirement change

3. Correct the underlying data

Do not simply modify the MDS to remove the immediate error.

Where possible, correct the underlying material or supplier information so the same problem does not reappear in another component.

4. Revalidate

Run the required checks again.

5. Resubmit

Submit the corrected MDS and retain the relevant status and evidence.

The objective is to create a repeatable correction process rather than handling every rejection as a separate email conversation.

Common IMDS reporting mistakes

Reporting the wrong part

Incorrect part numbers can result in data being associated with the wrong product.

Sending to the wrong recipient

Company and organizational-unit information needs to match the customer's expectations.

Using incomplete supplier information

A supplier declaration that omits relevant material or substance information can create downstream rework.

Incorrect material structure

The MDS hierarchy needs to represent the actual product.

Treating GADSL as the entire compliance assessment

GADSL is important, but automotive compliance can involve other regulatory and customer requirements.

Submitting without internal validation

Customer rejection should not be the first quality-control step.

Failing to manage changes

An accepted MDS can become outdated when the underlying material, supplier or regulatory requirements change.

IMDS reporting vs. IMDS compliance management

There is an important difference between submitting an MDS and managing IMDS compliance.

Reporting is the transaction:

For organizations with large product portfolios and supplier networks, the second model is usually the more important operational problem.

This is why IMDS should connect with broader material compliance processes rather than remain a standalone submission activity.

How can IMDS reporting be made more efficient?

The biggest opportunity is to reduce repetitive manual work around the submission process.

Teams can standardize:

• Supplier data requests
• Submission requirements
• Validation checks
• Rejection workflows
• Follow-up processes
• Approval tracking
• Change notifications
• Evidence retention

Automation can also help identify incomplete information before submission and route exceptions to the appropriate compliance or supplier-management team.

For organizations managing high volumes of automotive material data, IMDS/ELV compliance software can support workflows around supplier engagement, MDS tracking, validation, GADSL checks and compliance reporting.

IMDS reporting checklist

Before submitting an MDS, confirm:

• Correct customer identified
  
• Correct part number
  
• Correct supplier information
  
• Correct recipient organization
  
• Customer MDS request reviewed
  
• Material data collected
  
• Component structure verified
  
• Material classification checked
  
• Substance information reviewed
  
• Weight verified
  
• GADSL requirements checked
  
• Regulatory information reviewed
  
• Customer-specific requirements checked
  
• MDS internally validated
  
• Submission status tracked
  
• Rejection/correction workflow defined
  
• Evidence retained
  

Final takeaway

A reliable IMDS reporting process is not simply about completing an MDS.

It is about making sure the right material data reaches the right customer, for the right part, in the right structure, with the required regulatory and customer information—and remains accurate when the underlying product changes.

The practical workflow is:

That workflow should sit within the broader IMDS compliance process.

For the complete picture, continue with our IMDS compliance guide for automotive manufacturers.