The demand for Supply Chain transparency is growing, driven by Consumers, Business Partners, and new regulations like the Digital Product Passport (DPP). By 2027, various products in the EU must have a Digital Product Passport, containing information about the origin of raw materials and the sustainability of materials. This means you need to clearly state the product's composition, the source of raw materials, and the reusability of components.

Harbe is the leading independent Expertise Center for Supply Chain Integration. We specialize in consultancy with deep knowledge and experience in EDI and Data Management issues, directly relevant to DPP challenges. Harbe has Business and IT expertise across various sectors, ensuring we stay updated with the latest market developments.

Besides the GS1 standard, Harbe operates flexibly without relying on a PIM. For instance, you can consider a PRICAT message, an EDI message containing price and catalog information. Integrating PRICAT messages allows companies to efficiently share and manage detailed product information, essential for creating a complete and reliable digital product passport. Harbe's expertise in expanding and optimizing EDI messages ensures your company meets current standards and can adapt to future changes and requirements.

Challenges of Digital Product Passport

Digital Product Passport (DPP) will transform how companies manage product data, but they also bring challenges. Learn the importance of complying with regulations, ensuring accuracy, integrating systems, and organizing long-term data management for successful DPP implementation. DPPs will soon be mandatory, especially for circular products (products that can be reused, recycled, or repaired).

This means you need to have your product information in order and be able to easily share it within the Supply Chain. But a well-designed DPP offers more than just regulatory compliance. It also helps you work more efficiently and reduce waste. Data is central to every sustainable strategy, and a strong DPP ensures you collect the right data and use it effectively.

While sustainability is an important driver, DPPs can also help your organization work more efficiently. With all your product data in one place, you can track where materials come from, their environmental impact, and how best to use and distribute your resources. DPPs provide a clear and structured overview of your products, making it easier to respond to customer inquiries, comply with regulations, and improve internal decision-making.

Opportunities of the Digital Product Passport

• Evaluating social and ecological impacts: A Digital Product Passport provides valuable information that allows people and companies to accurately assess the impact of a product. Evaluating the social and ecological impacts of products is a challenging process. In today's globalized world, tracking the lifecycle of a product requires insight into complex, global supply chains and diverse suppliers. With full and transparent visibility into your supply chain, you can identify problems and bottlenecks. This makes it possible to implement changes that address social issues such as forced labor and low wages, while simultaneously reducing ecological impacts such as carbon emissions, pollution, and waste.
• Renewable resources, sustainability, and authenticity: Consumers and companies increasingly value the origin and sustainability of products. The DPP makes it possible to document the authenticity of used materials and strengthen the focus on renewable resources.
• Efficiency and cost savings: Although the implementation of the DPP may initially feel like an administrative burden, structuring your processes and data can ultimately lead to less manual work and thus cost savings.

Technical aspects of Digital Product Passport

1. Efficient Management of Product Data: The amount of data required for DPPs offers an opportunity to optimize your data infrastructure. By centralizing product information from various systems such as PIM and ERP systems, you can work more efficiently and save costs. Collecting missing data from partners also strengthens collaboration and transparency in the chain.
2. Improving Data Quality: A DPP is only as good as the data it contains. By investing in accurate and usable data, you ensure that everyone in the chain, from producer to recycler, knows exactly what they are working with. This increases efficiency and reduces errors, ultimately saving costs.
3. System Integration: The need to make different systems worldwide work together offers an opportunity to modernize your IT infrastructure. By investing in compatible systems and standards, you can streamline data exchange and increase operational efficiency.
4. Long-term Data Management: Managing data over the entire lifecycle of a product offers an opportunity to develop robust IT structures. This ensures that product information is always available and up-to-date, which is essential for regulatory compliance and changing business needs. This also prevents future costs due to inefficiencies and errors.
5. Clarity about Ownership of the DPP: Determining responsibility for the DPP offers an opportunity to establish clear processes and responsibilities. This ensures consistent and reliable information throughout the chain. By making clear agreements about who consolidates and updates the DPPs, you prevent conflicting information and improve traceability and sustainability.

Building a future-proof solution for DPP implementation

‍Because data is at the core of every DPP, establishing a strong data foundation should be the first step in your approach. Data is central to every strategy. It's not just about sustainability, but also about managing materials, recycling instructions, product identification, and everything needed to comply with regulations and improve your business.

1. Master Data Management: You need one central place for all your product information, a clear system where all product information is stored and managed. Without this, complying with (EU) regulations becomes very difficult, and you risk inefficiency and fines. But it's not just about following rules. A well-organized data system also helps you build trust with customers and partners, offer more transparency, and further optimize your Supply Chain.
2. Investing in Data Governance: Governance in Digital Product Passports (DPPs) is crucial for regulatory compliance, transparency, and quality management. It involves developing policies and procedures, ensuring data quality, and managing risks. Governance promotes collaboration between departments and external partners and ensures sustainable data management throughout the entire lifecycle of a product. Strong governance allows organizations to maximize the benefits of DPPs and meet legal requirements and stakeholder expectations.

At Harbe Expertise, we assist companies in digitizing and optimizing processes within the Digital Supply Chain. We observe that more organizations seek to gain control over their data, not only to comply with DPP obligations but also to enhance their competitive edge. Beyond compliance, data insights offer opportunities for efficiency, quality assurance, and creating customer value.

Why choose Harbe?

• Our consultants possess deep knowledge and skills in data exchange within the supply chain and across various sources. This complements Harbe's collective expertise within the network, enhancing business continuity.
• Our experts have extensive experience and knowledge of processes, verticals, and applications, ensuring seamless and efficient data exchange. We provide consultancy tailored to the unique needs of your organization. By combining various expertise within our team and with our partners, we can tackle complex challenges from multiple perspectives. This ensures the continuity of your business operations by always offering the most future-proof and effective solutions.
• Harbe operates based on the client's existing applications and supplements them as needed. This aligns with our core value of simplifying processes by leveraging existing solutions within the organization.
• Harbe stands out with a unique work model focused on the client's business objectives. We have deliberately chosen a defined area within IT consultancy: EDI, Data Management, and Business Intelligence. This allows us to offer specialized expertise that meets the specific needs of our clients.

Conclusion

Are you interested in exploring the possibilities for your organization in preparation for DPP implementation and how you can leverage product data as a strategic advantage? We would love to connect for an introductory meeting.

You can respond to this post, or feel free to call me at: 06-41903391. We look forward to hearing from you soon.