Digital Product Passport Collection and exchange of product data for more sustainable business processes

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The Digital Product Passport presents challenges but also opportunities. Learn in this article how the DPP could function as a key instrument for sustainable products.

The Digital Product Passport (DPP), established by the European Commission in the proposal for the regulation on ecodesign requirements for sustainable products (ESPR), is intended to become a key instrument for an ecological and digital transformation. By continuously providing relevant information in digital form throughout the entire life cycle of products and their components, it aims to massively reduce resource consumption and disposal burdens while promoting the repair, reuse, repurposing, and recycling of decommissioned products in the spirit of a sustainable circular economy.

The Open Industry 4.0 Alliance has therefore launched the so-called DPP project initiative, which deals with industry-specific technical requirements and discusses the various challenges and opportunities that the DPP presents for companies. For example, existing company processes must first be examined to provide the information required by the EU in the correct granularity and quality. At the same time, companies should be encouraged to "make a virtue out of necessity," that is, to use the introduction of the DPP as an opportunity to improve processes or even tackle new, innovative business models that can result from data-driven IT infrastructures. In other words, it is important to optimize data processing and availability and identify new sustainable business processes. Although the implementation of these processes is complex, it also offers advantages with a skillful approach.

What can the Digital Product Passport do?

The DPP, as well as the concept of the digital twin in connection with the Asset Administration Shell, are concepts aimed at collecting, organizing, and managing information about a specific product. The digital twin is a holistic, virtual representation of a physical object or system. It can contain both static and dynamic information that allows for the simulation or monitoring of the real object's behavior and performance, while also serving as the central access point for all relevant data concerning the object.

The Asset Administration Shell, also known as Verwaltungsschale or AAS, is a concept in this context that enables the management and exchange of information about an object in a standardized way. It provides a uniform interface for accessing and managing information about an asset. In the case of a product, such as a bicycle, the digital twin could be designed to answer questions like who uses it, when and how it is used, when it was or should be maintained, who owns it, what spare parts are needed, and much more. The Digital Product Passport is to be considered in this context as a subset of all the information available about the bicycle.

The DPP project initiative of OI4

"We have started a project on the DDP, which, in addition to the technical groundwork, consciously addresses the question of how to turn a necessity into a virtue. We want to focus on the positive. The implementation of regulatory requirements necessitates aggregating the right data from various systems in the right format at the right place. This is a very complex process. Therefore, we are asking ourselves how this complex can best be tackled. Even more important is how companies can ensure that, in the course of implementation, advantages are generated for their products or underlying business processes?" explains Rüdiger Fritz, Director Product Management at SAP and one of the many active designers at the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance. The DPP project initiative aims to address various challenges related to the implementation of the DPP, the management and transparency of the supply chain, data exchange, and change management. The focus is on practical approaches and new solution patterns for continuous improvement.

The committee is happy to use the practical and simplified example of manufacturing a bicycle to examine the DPP from many perspectives. The concept is that certain components, such as the front and rear wheels, saddle, and handlebars, are sourced from a supplier who already provides the respective DPP for these components. The company that manufactures the bicycle, in turn, has an internal production for the bicycle frame and component assembly. The frame production is based on simple steel tubes sourced from two different suppliers. The main focus is on receiving DPP data from suppliers, generating such for the internally produced bicycle frame, and finally creating the Digital Product Passport for the finished bicycle and thus for the consumer.

Along this path, a wide variety of questions must be considered. For example, where and how data that is needed for the DPP is already being generated and organized today, but not yet available in the Asset Administration Shell + DPP format. On the other hand, it must be clarified how a company-wide IT infrastructure should be designed that fulfills both the requirements for the generation and provision of the future DPP and simultaneously meets the expected added values and synergies of the DPP introduction in the company. In addition to the general objectives and questions that need to be clarified, the project initiative has further tasks ahead.

For instance, Asset Administration Shells for delivered components must be adopted and utilized in subsequent processes. The creation of administration shells for the internal production component "bicycle frame," on the other hand, presents a different challenge, as both proprietary data sources and the modeling of production machines must be taken into account. Likewise, designing an AAS for the end product "bicycle" is required, focusing on the assembly of the bill of materials and the consideration of variants. It must also be clarified to what extent material losses are included in the CO₂ balance or external processes and service providers, such as contract manufacturing, are integrated into the DPP. Ultimately, the project initiative aims to derive recommendations for action for manufacturing companies and service providers from these considerations to facilitate the DPP creation process, uncover improvement potentials in companies, and finally contribute to the European Commission's desired sustainability goals.

Implementation of new and sustainable processes

Through the DPP, consumers receive comprehensive information about the origin, materials used, and sustainability of products. However, it can also enable numerous companies to create additional benefits beyond the provision of product-related information.

Examples include direct interaction with customers, such as tailored maintenance offers, individual contract and warranty conditions, customer retention due to more immediate reactions to (spare part) needs, and more. Also worth mentioning is increased competitiveness through standout product features such as CO₂ neutrality or the multidimensional use of the digital twin throughout the entire lifecycle of a product. By taking a holistic view of product and usage data, companies will develop creative processes to improve items and offer sustainability options.

Standard for more sustainability

The future Digital Product Passport will be a standardized solution to provide product information in terms of sustainability, which brings benefits for both companies and consumers.

The DPP project initiative aims to address all associated challenges and promote continuous improvements by focusing on the practical application of the DPP in various industries. It sees itself as an open and creative "think tank" and a source of inspiration for the members of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance.