How to prepare for the Digital Product Passport (DPP)

El Digital Product Passport (DPP) will be a key element in the transition to a more circular and sustainable economy in Europe.

Starting in 2025, this regulation will be mandatory for certain priority products and will act as a kind of “identity document” that accompanies the product throughout its life cycle.

In this article we will tell you What industries will be affected, What are the expected deadlines and How a PIM system can help you be prepared for this new scenario.

What is the Digital Product Passport (DPP)

The DPP emerges as part of Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR) Regulations, under the umbrella of the European Green Deal. Its goal is to provide a unified digital record that includes:

• A unique identifier.
• Data on materials and components.
• Information about the environmental footprint.
• Instructions for repair, reuse and recycling.

This digital passport not only improves transparency for consumers, but it also allows authorities to verify compliance with sustainability standards in priority sectors such as textiles, electronics and construction.

The challenge of organizing product information

The arrival of the DPP has confronted many companies with an uncomfortable truth: they already have the data they need, but they don't know exactly where. Critical information such as the origin of materials, recycled content, or suppliers is often scattered among spreadsheets, emails, shared folders, or unconnected systems.

This scenario is especially common in sectors with complex supply chains, where data exists, but they are not standardized or centralized.

The first step, therefore, is to make an inventory: identify what information you have, where it is stored and what data is missing.

To comply with DPP regulations, companies need to have clear, structured and always accessible information. This is where a PIM (Product Information Management) system is converted in a key ally: allows you to centralize, standardize and keep all product information up to date, facilitating both regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.

PIM: key solution for the DPP

The DPP requires companies to have accurate, structured and accessible data. For this, having a Product Information Management (PIM) system is essential.

Un PIM centralizes all product information in one place, making it easy to organize, update and distribute it. Thanks to this solid foundation, companies can generate the data needed for the DPP in a secure, consistent and reusable way.

What does a PIM provide in this context

• Clear and flexible structure: It allows you to define product hierarchies, manage variants and attributes in several languages, and maintain consistency between categories and references.
• Interoperability: The PIM easily integrates with other systems and platforms, and shares product information in standard formats. Thus, the data reaches distributors, online stores or authorities correctly without the need to adapt them manually.
• Data Governance: It includes approval flows, quality controls and change traceability that reduce errors and ensure the reliability of information.

In short, a good PIM system not only facilitates compliance with the DPP, but it also improves all product management.

Centralizing information is the first step in moving towards a product model that is more transparent, efficient and prepared for new regulatory requirements.

10 steps to get your company ready for the DPP

Implementing the DPP requires a clear and well-structured plan that covers both the technical and organizational aspects of the project.

These 10 steps will help you build a strong foundation to comply with regulations and take advantage of their benefits.

1. Understand legal and sectoral requirements

Find out about European regulations related to the DPP and how it affects your industry. Engage and consult with industry experts to understand deadlines, technical requirements and opportunities.

2. Perform a product data audit.

Evaluate the information you already have: its availability, quality, format and structure. It maps all internal and external sources (ERP, spreadsheets, emails, vendor platforms, etc.) and identifies critical gaps in relation to DPP requirements.

3. Evaluate current technological capacity.

Analyze if your current systems (especially the PIM) can support the volumes, formats and standards required by the DPP. Make sure they allow data governance, change traceability, approval workflows, and integration with external systems.

4. Select pilot products and launch tests.

Choose a sample of representative products (by volume or complexity) to develop the first DPPs. Use these pilots to test flows, formats, and integration with QR tags, NFC or other means of access.

5. Define the product data model.

Design a clear structure for the data: hierarchies, attributes, variants and taxonomies. Make sure it's aligned with both regulatory requirements and your business and e-commerce needs.

6. Involve internal teams and suppliers

Train key teams (IT, sustainability, compliance, supply chain, marketing) on the impact of the DPP. It works collaboratively with suppliers to collect reliable and traceable data from the source.

7. Select or evolve the PIM system.

If you don't have a PIM, evaluates solutions that are flexible, scalable and interoperable. If you already have one, consider whether it needs adaptations to support the new data and flow requirements of the DPP.

8. Establish data governance processes.

Define managers, validation flows and quality controls to ensure that data is always up to date, complete and consistent. Create a committee or data team to oversee the evolution of the project.

9. Scale the implementation progressively.

Once the pilot is validated, it expands the reach of the DPP to more products, markets and categories. Integrate new processes into your regular management systems and workflows.

10. Measure results and adapt to future changes.

It monitors the use of the DPP, regulatory compliance and its impact on customers and internal processes.

Make sure that your systems and processes are flexible enough to quickly adapt to new technical standards, regulatory changes or updates that may arise from the EU.

This adaptability will be key to maintaining efficiency and compliance in the long term.

DPP dates by industry

These are the estimated dates when the DPP will be mandatory by sector.

Knowing them will allow you to plan ahead and prioritize the necessary actions in your company.

The Cost of Inaction

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) represents an evolution in the way we manage and share product information.

More than a legal requirement, it is an opportunity to lay the foundations for a value chain that is more transparent, efficient and aligned with market and consumer expectations.

Preparing the data infrastructure in time not only facilitates future compliance, but it also allows us to optimize processes, reduce inefficiencies and generate competitive advantages starting today. Companies that are already working on it are seeing clear benefits: from a better internal organization to stronger communication with their customers and partners.

We're here to help

In Novicell, we are here to help you evaluate the most appropriate roadmap according to your industry and your starting point, with the support of our experts in PIM systems.

From our experience, accompanying this process with a strategic vision and an appropriate technological base will make the difference.