Digital Product Passport: be ready before it becomes mandatory.
The EU Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR) introduces the Digital Product Passport – rolling out from 2027, product group by product group. Whoever wants to keep selling will need structured product data from the entire supply chain and systems that can serve it. That is exactly our offer: DPP readiness – we prepare your data and systems for the introduction. Across the DACH region, with international project experience.
From February 2027
The battery passport leads the way – further product groups follow via delegated acts.
Data + systems
The DPP is not a PDF but machine-readable data with a unique product identifier – fed from ERP, PIM and the supply chain.
Our offer
Readiness instead of panic: gap analysis, data audit, system integration and a pilot passport.
What is the Digital Product Passport?
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a machine-readable data record that accompanies a product across its entire life cycle – from manufacturing through use and repair to recycling. Its legal basis is the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), in force since July 2024.
Every product in scope receives a unique product identifier and a data carrier (e.g. a QR code) on the product that links to its passport. Which data the passport must contain is defined per product group by the European Commission in delegated acts – typically including:
- Material composition and substances of concern
- Recycled content, repairability and durability information
- Data on the carbon/environmental footprint
- Instructions for repair, disassembly and end-of-life handling
- Conformity and traceability information from the supply chain
Passports are registered in a central EU registry. Access is tiered – for consumers, market surveillance, customs and circular-economy actors.
Legal basis
ESPR – Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, in force since July 2024; details per product group via delegated acts.
First hard deadline
Battery passport from 18 February 2027 (EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542).
On the product
Unique product identifier + data carrier, in practice usually a QR code.
Transition period
Typically around 18 months between delegated act and application.
Registration
Central EU registry with tiered access for consumers, authorities and circular-economy actors.
The road to the DPP obligation.
In April 2025 the European Commission published the first ESPR working plan (2025–2030). Dates for delegated acts are indicative – after adoption, companies typically have around 18 months until the rules apply. Filled markers are already reality.
ESPR enters into force
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 replaces the old Ecodesign Directive and creates the legal basis for the Digital Product Passport. From this point it is clear: the DPP is coming – the only open question is when each product group is up.
First ESPR working plan
The Commission names the priorities for 2025–2030: iron & steel, aluminium, textiles, tyres, furniture and mattresses. Affected industries now know their delegated acts are in the making – the transition period can no longer come as a surprise.
Delegated act for iron & steel expected
The first ESPR product group in the working plan – initially likely with information and data obligations for the intermediate product. For steel processors this means: the data requirements of their input materials become concrete and travel up the supply chain.
Battery passport becomes mandatory
The first hard deadline: EV, LMT and industrial batteries above 2 kWh require a digital battery passport under EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 – with carbon footprint, recycled content, performance and durability data. The battery passport is considered the blueprint for all passports to follow.
Textiles, tyres, aluminium expected
The delegated acts for the next priority groups. Textiles are in the spotlight: composition, recycled content and supply-chain evidence – relevant for manufacturers, brands and importers alike.
Furniture, mattresses & further groups
The working plan gets executed, more product groups follow. The ESPR is a framework regulation: eventually it covers almost all physical products on the EU market – exemptions include food, feed and medicinal products.
Your product group is on the working plan?
Then your preparation window is already running. We check when it concretely hits you – and which data you are still missing today.
How the product passport works technically.
Behind the buzzword sits a concrete technical architecture – and it explains why DPP readiness is above all a data and integration topic. The DPP demands exactly the disciplines that today often sit scattered across ERP, PIM, Excel lists and email inboxes.
Decentralized data storage
The EU does not run a central product database. Passport data lives with the economic operator – you – and must remain available, current and machine-readable across the life cycle. The EU registry essentially stores only identifiers and references.
Unique identifier + data carrier
Every product (at model, batch or item level, depending on the act) gets a unique identifier behind a QR code on the product. Without consistent article and batch logic in ERP and PIM, this is where the first problem appears.
Tiered access rights
Consumers see different data than market surveillance, customs or recyclers. Your data model must capture not only the content but also who may see what.
Interoperability
Data must be available in standardized, machine-readable formats via open interfaces so systems along the value chain can process it automatically. A PDF in a download area does not meet the requirement.
DPP readiness: preparing data and systems.
In the end, the product passport is a data and integration project – exactly our craft. We make your company DPP-ready before the delegated act for your product group takes effect.
- Impact & gap analysis – Which of your products fall under which requirements, and when? We map your portfolio against the ESPR working plan and the Battery Regulation – with a prioritized roadmap.
- Data audit – Which of the required data do you already have – and where? We inventory master data, material data, supplier information and compliance documents across ERP, PIM, PLM and Excel islands.
- Data model & data collection – We define the DPP data model for your product group and organize the collection of missing supply-chain data – structured instead of email ping-pong.
- System integration – Connecting ERP, PIM and business systems via clean interfaces so passport data stays current automatically – no manual double maintenance.
- Pilot product passport – A working DPP prototype for a real product: unique identifier, QR data carrier, machine-readable data output – as a blueprint for the rollout.
- Operations & upkeep – Processes and responsibilities for ongoing data maintenance – the passport must stay current across the life cycle.
Who it is for
Manufacturers, brands and importers of physical products in the EU – from mid-sized companies to enterprises. DACH-wide, with international project experience.
Our foundation
Interface and data projects are our core business: ERP/SAP integration, replacing grown Excel data landscapes, custom software.
Honest advice
Many details will only be final with the delegated act for your product group. We prepare what is already certain today – and keep you posted on changes.
Why you should not wait for the delegated act.
Data collection takes time
Getting material compositions and evidence from a multi-tier supply chain typically takes months to years – the ~18-month transition period is tight for that.
Data storage is rarely DPP-capable
Product data lives scattered across ERP, PIM, Excel and PDFs. The DPP demands structured, machine-readable, current data per product instance or batch.
The first requirements are foreseeable
Unique identifier, data carrier, substances of concern, circularity information: the basic patterns are set in the ESPR – prepare them now and only fine-tune later.
Competitive edge instead of compliance chore
Whoever can deliver early wins tenders and B2B customers who need to make their own supply chain DPP-capable.
Start while the deadline is still your friend.
A compact readiness check today saves you the crisis project right before the deadline – and costs no more than an initial call.
How your readiness project runs.
Readiness check
Compact entry point: impact, data situation, system landscape – with a clear findings report and priorities.
Gap analysis & roadmap
Matching your data situation against the foreseeable requirements of your product group; prioritized measures with effort estimates.
Data model & collection
Define the DPP data model, collect supply-chain data in a structured way, assign responsibilities.
Integration & pilot
Interfaces to ERP/PIM, unique identifiers, QR data carriers – and a working pilot product passport.
Rollout & operations
Extension across the portfolio, ongoing data maintenance, adaptation to the final delegated act.
Frequently asked questions about the Digital Product Passport.
What is the Digital Product Passport (DPP)?
A machine-readable data record with a unique product identifier that provides sustainability, material and circularity information about a product across its life cycle – accessible via a data carrier such as a QR code on the product. The legal basis is the EU Ecodesign Regulation ESPR (EU) 2024/1781.
When does the Digital Product Passport become mandatory?
Step by step: the battery passport becomes mandatory on 18 February 2027 (Battery Regulation). For ESPR product groups the DPP applies after the respective delegated act – iron/steel is expected from 2026, textiles, tyres and aluminium from 2027, further groups by 2030. After adoption there is typically a transition period of around 18 months.
Which products are affected?
The first ESPR working plan (April 2025) prioritizes iron & steel, aluminium, textiles, tyres, furniture and mattresses – batteries are covered by their own regulation. Eventually the ESPR covers almost all physical products; exemptions include food, feed and medicinal products.
Which data must the passport contain?
That is defined per product group in the delegated act. Foreseeable elements include a unique product identifier, material composition, substances of concern, recycled content, repairability and end-of-life information, and environmental footprint data.
What does DPP readiness mean in practice?
Preparing your data and systems so you can deliver as soon as your product group is up: impact and gap analysis, a data audit across ERP/PIM/Excel, a data model and supply-chain data collection, system integration and a pilot passport as a blueprint.
Does the DPP also affect small companies and non-EU manufacturers?
Yes. The obligations apply to products placed on the EU market – regardless of where they are made. Importers and distributors share responsibility. SMEs get support measures, but the data obligations themselves remain.
Related services.
Custom Software Development
Data models, interfaces and business applications built to fit.
Learn moreVBA Legacy Modernization
Turning scattered Excel data into structured systems – the DPP precursor.
Learn moreIT Project Management
Your DPP project professionally steered – internally and with vendors.
Learn moreHow DPP-ready are you?
The readiness check tells you: impact, data gaps and the sensible next steps – compact and understandable.
Request DPP readiness.
Briefly name your industry and product group – we will get back to you with an initial assessment of impact and approach.
We usually reply within 24 hours.
Remote & on site – working across the DACH region (DE, AT, CH), with international project experience.