Guides

How do you actually implement a Digital Product Passport?

Implementation is four decisions and only one is about software. First, what the product is: model, variant, batch or the individual item. The identity level you pick decides what the passport can ever say, and it is the one thing that cannot be patched later. Second, which system already owns each fact. ERP, PIM and PLM between them hold most of what a passport needs, and building a second product record beside them is the common failure. Third, what evidence stands behind each claim, and what a blank means when a supplier will not answer. Fourth, the carrier and the resolver, which is where most teams start and the part that matters least until the first three are settled.

The dates set the sequence. The Battery Passport is adopted and applies from 18 February 2027. For textiles, aluminium, iron and steel and tyres the Commission has published indicative delegated-act dates and no field list, and footwear has a study milestone. Work that hard-codes fields now is work you will do twice.

These fifty guides are that order written out: classify, map what you already have, fix identity, then choose a carrier. They also cover programme cost, supplier evidence, ecommerce placement and what to refuse to do now.