The digital product passport as a data strategy

Why your system landscape is now crucial

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is often viewed as an isolated regulatory requirement. In reality, however, it puts your entire data strategy to the test. For industrial and manufacturing companies, this means that what is needed is not an additional module, but a structurally robust data architecture.

What specific data does the Digital Product Passport require?

Under the EU Ecodesign Regulation, the Digital Product Passport requires structured, machine-readable information about the entire product life cycle.

This includes, among other things:

• Material composition and critical raw materials
• Origin and supply chain information
• CO₂ footprint and sustainability indicators
• Repair, maintenance, and spare parts information
• Recycling and disposal information

This data must be consistent, up-to-date, and available via interfaces for authorities, business partners, and, in the future, customers.

For companies with complex parts lists, a wide range of variants, and international supply chains, this creates a new dimension of data responsibility.

Why Excel lists and isolated solutions fail

In many industrial companies, product data has grown historically. It is spread across ERP systems, local databases, Excel spreadsheets, and individual departmental solutions.

Such structures often function adequately in everyday operations. However, the digital product passport requires:

• Consistent data consistency
• Clear responsibilities
• Versioning and traceability
• Automated interface capability

Decentralized data storage inevitably leads to media breaks, manual coordination, and an increased risk of errors. Under regulatory pressure, such weaknesses become apparent – and costly.

The role of central data platforms

A central data platform is becoming a strategic necessity. In particular, a PIM system (Product Information Management, i.e., a central platform for managing all product data) makes it possible to consolidate product information in a structured manner and make it available across channels.

However, the digital product passport requires more than just classic product attributes. The decisive factor is the combination of:

• Product master data
• Supplier data
• Sustainability and compliance information
• Documentation and technical assets

Only when this information is integrated can a robust foundation for regulatory requirements and transparent communication be created.

Data quality as a success factor

The digital product passport makes data quality a strategic discipline. Incomplete, contradictory, or outdated information is no longer an internal efficiency issue, but a potential compliance risk.

Companies therefore need:

• Clear data governance structures
• Defined responsibilities
• Validation mechanisms
• Transparent processes for supplier integration

DPP projects often become transformation projects as a result – both organizationally and technologically.

The DPP as a catalyst for clean data architecture

Used strategically, the Digital Product Pass becomes a catalyst for structural modernization.

Those who review and consolidate their system landscape now will achieve:

• Transparency along the value chain
• Scalability for future regulatory requirements
• More efficient processes
• Competitive advantages through reliable sustainability data

The Digital Product Passport is therefore not an add-on module – but a stress test for your existing architecture.

Conclusion for management

The regulatory pressure is real. But the real challenge lies in your data structure. The Digital Product Pass is forcing industrial companies to rethink their data strategy, system landscape, and governance.

Those who act now will gain data sovereignty and transparency. Those who wait risk operational and regulatory bottlenecks.

The Digital Product Passport is not an isolated IT project – it is a strategic transformation project.

Find out in a strategy meeting what structural requirements your company should meet.