Create a material
This guide walks through every field in the material creation form. Taking time to enter complete and accurate information when you first create a material saves significant effort on every subsequent data request response.
Opening the Form
Navigate to Materials in the left sidebar, then click Add Material in the top right. The creation form opens as a full-page form divided into sections.
Step 1: Material Name
Enter your internal name for the material. Use whatever naming convention your organisation already uses for internal material specifications or product codes — consistency matters because this is the name you will search for when responding to data requests.
Examples of good naming conventions:
LFP-CAM-001(your internal code for lithium iron phosphate cathode active material, revision 1)Graphite Anode SL-Grade(descriptive + grade identifier)NMC811 Cathode — Samsung SDI Qualified(descriptive + qualification status)
Avoid generic names like "Cathode material" or "Lithium salt" — these become ambiguous once your library has more than a handful of entries.
Step 2: Code (optional)
An optional short code for the material — for example your internal SKU or specification reference. This is separate from the name and can be left blank.
Step 3: Material Type
Material type classifies what stage in the supply chain this material represents:
| Type | Use when... |
|---|---|
| Raw material | The material is extracted or mined and has not been significantly processed (e.g., lithium spodumene concentrate, cobalt ore, natural graphite flake) |
| Processed material | The material has been chemically or physically transformed from its raw state (e.g., lithium carbonate, cobalt sulphate, battery-grade graphite) |
| Component | The item is an assembled or manufactured part (e.g., battery cell, separator film, battery management system module) |
Step 4: Description
Optional but recommended. Use this field to add any detail that is not captured by the name and type alone — for example, the processing method, the applicable battery chemistry, or a cross-reference to an internal specification document number.
Step 5: Specifications
Specifications are free-form key/value pairs you use to record the properties of the material — for example a key of Purity with a value of 99.5%, or Grade with a value of Battery-grade. Add as many key/value rows as you need to capture the properties that customers commonly ask you for.
Because specifications are free-form, you decide which properties to record and how to label them. Keep your keys consistent across similar materials so they are easy to reuse when responding to data requests.
Richer materials capture — dedicated CAS-number fields, country of origin, and a structured composition breakdown that totals 100% — is planned. Not available today. For now, record any of these details you need as description text or as specification key/value pairs.
Step 6: Supporting Documents
In this section you can attach general technical documentation for the material — safety data sheets, technical data sheets, test reports, and similar files. These documents are stored with the material and available to reference when responding to data requests.
For certificates with issuers, certificate numbers, and expiry dates that need active tracking, use the dedicated Certificates tab on the material after saving. See Certificates for Materials.
Saving the Material
Click Save Material. The material is immediately available in your library and can be referenced in any data request response across any of your customer connections.
There is no separate "publish" or "approve" step for materials. Saving makes the material active. If you want to work on a material across multiple sessions without it being referenced accidentally, note this in the name or description (e.g., append [DRAFT]) and remove the note when complete.
Recording Regulation Declarations
Once a material is saved, its detail page includes a Regulation declarations panel. Open the material, click Declare status, then set a status — Compliant, Action required, Pending, or Not applicable — for each regulation you want to record: REACH, RoHS, CMRT, and the EU Battery Regulation. Each declaration is saved against that individual material and is visible to the customers you supply. See Recording Regulation Declarations for a Material for the full workflow. This is separate from the company-level declarations on your Compliance Profile.
Updating a Material After It Has Been Referenced
You can edit any material at any time from the Materials list. Click the material name to open it, then click Edit.
Important: Changes you make to a material apply to future data request responses only. If you have already submitted a data request response that referenced this material, that historical submission retains the values that were in the material at the time of submission. Traceable does not retroactively update submitted responses when a material is edited.
If a historical submission needs to be corrected, you will need to work with the customer to reopen or resubmit the relevant data request.