what is that single chain file that everything is filled in from

One file, multiple lists from the same source

The supply chain file is the collection of basic data about your business that appears repeatedly in questionnaires from customers, banks and insurers — identity, size, locations, certificates, policies. Instead of entering those data afresh for each list, they are recorded once, with a source attached. The system recognizes which question on your customer's portal corresponds to which data point in the file, and proposes the answer. You confirm with yes or no, and submit yourself.

The file is not a certificate and not an assessment — nothing is declared on your behalf. It is a repository for facts that you yourself have provided or confirmed, such as the registration number under which the enterprise is registeredthe countries where you have locations, or whether there is a continuity plan. For topics such as cybersecurity or sustainability, there is an additional layer: which of the ten measures from Article 21(2) of the NIS2 Directive have already been completed, or which basic indicators from the VSME module are already known. If data is missing, the field remains empty and no "yes" is proposed without a source.

What feeds each part of the file

The file is built from the same categories that appear in almost every questionnaire: identity (name, number, address), size (number of employees and turnover), locations, insurances, certificates such as ISO 9001, and policy questions on continuity, accessibility or AI use. For cybersecurity questions, the focus is often on the control measures in Annex A of ISO/IEC 27001 or the ten measures of Article 21(2) of the NIS2 Directive (2022/2555); for sustainability questions on the basic module of the EFRAG VSME standard, which was developed following the CSRD Directive (2022/2464). Each answer in the file refers to the source where the data comes from, so you can check back if in doubt before you confirm it.