The path to the digital product passport

Strategic roadmap for industrial companies

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is not an isolated regulatory measure. For industrial companies, it marks a structural turning point in the organization of product data, supply chain information, and sustainability metrics.

The key question is no longer whether you need to take action, but how structured your approach should be.

Typical starting points in industrial companies

In practice, we often encounter:

• Historically grown system landscapes
• Decentralized product and supplier data
• Media breaks between ERP, PIM, PLM, and other systems
• Unclear data responsibilities
• Lack of transparency regarding sustainability metrics

Such structures are manageable in day-to-day business, but risky under regulatory pressure. The digital product passport reveals structural weaknesses.

Before measures are defined, an honest assessment of the current situation is therefore necessary.

Analysis phase: Determining the degree of maturity

The first step is a systematic analysis of the degree of maturity:

• Where is your product-related data located today?
• How consistent is the material, supplier, and sustainability information?
• Which systems are involved?
• Where are there redundancies or manual processes?

This transparency is crucial for prioritizing investments in a targeted manner.

Architecture definition: Develop a target vision

Based on the analysis, a scalable target architecture is defined. The goal is not a short-term add-on solution, but an integrated data structure.

Key elements can include:

• A PIM system (product information management, i.e., a central platform for managing all product data)
• Clear interfaces to ERP, PLM, and supplier systems
• Structured storage of sustainability and compliance data
• Defined data models and standards

The digital product passport becomes the catalyst for a clean, future-proof architecture.

Data consolidation: Creating transparency

In this phase, existing data sources are cleaned up, harmonized, and merged. The goal is a consistent “single source of truth.”

This reduces:

• Manual reconciliations
• Inconsistent data
• Duplicate maintenance
• Compliance risks

There is considerable potential for efficiency gains here, especially for products with many variants in mechanical engineering or component manufacturing.

Process integration: Anchoring DPP operationally

The Digital Product Passport is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process.

Therefore, the following must be done:

• Suppliers must be systematically integrated
• Validation mechanisms must be established
• Data maintenance processes must be defined
• Responsibilities must be clearly defined

Governance thus becomes a key success factor. Without clear responsibilities, any system solution will remain ineffective.

Scaling: Ensuring future-proofing

Regulatory developments do not end with the Digital Product Pass. Further requirements are foreseeable.

A scalable infrastructure makes it possible to integrate new requirements structurally – without having to start from scratch every time. This is precisely where the difference between a short-term emergency solution and strategic modernization lies.

Why a roadmap is crucial

A “big bang” approach carries high risks. A step-by-step implementation with clearly defined milestones is more successful.

The Digital Product Passport offers the opportunity to consolidate existing system landscapes and make them future-proof.

Companies that strategically leverage this momentum create:

• Transparency along the value chain
• Data sovereignty
• More efficient processes
• Scalability for further regulatory requirements

The Digital Product Passport is therefore the ideal opportunity to strengthen your digital infrastructure in the long term.

The DPP is not an add-on module. It is a stress test for your existing architecture – and at the same time an opportunity for structural modernization.

Those who define a clear roadmap today will ensure regulatory stability and digital competitiveness.

Get started now with a structured DPP roadmap – we will support you strategically and conceptually.