“The digital product passport increases bureaucracy!” I hear this phrase, or rather this concern, again and again. And every time I ask myself: how can something that stands for automation, standardization and digital efficiency be misunderstood as a bureaucratic hurdle? Because the opposite is the case:
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) streamlines processes, eliminates manual data entry and makes product management more efficient than ever before.
Digital Product Passport and Supply Chain Act: Why are the two so often lumped together?
The Digital Product Passport and the Supply Chain Act result from two completely separate legal areas. The origin of the misunderstanding that changes to the Supply Chain Act affect the Digital Product Passport may lie in the assumption that the Digital Product Passport is an additional reporting requirement - similar to the sustainability reports according to CSRD or ESG reports. But this is wrong. The Digital Product Passport is not a reporting tool.
It is a data management and automation tool. Instead of creating new bureaucracy, the Digital Product Passport reduces precisely the manual work that currently burdens companies:
No duplicate data entry: Stored once, usable everywhere.
Automated compliance checks: Companies and authorities save valuable time.
Faster evidence & reports: Instead of endless paper forms → Click & Done.
More efficient market surveillance: fewer queries, more clarity.
Anyone who sees the digital product passport as a bureaucratic monster is stuck with old, inefficient structures. In reality, it is the tool that streamlines bureaucracy and revolutionizes processes.
How the digital product passport reduces - not increases - bureaucracy
Less manual documentation & verification requirements
Today, companies have to manually compile countless documents for sustainability or product safety certificates - often from different systems.💡 With the Digital Product Passport, all relevant data can already be accessed digitally - in real time.
Automatic compliance check instead of marathon testing
Anyone who has to prove whether a product meets legal requirements today often gets lost in paper chaos and Excel spreadsheets.The digital product passport enables regulatory checks to be carried out automatically. Authorities can access stored data directly without overburdening companies with additional requests.
Faster product information for customers, partners & authorities
Whether it's recycling information, repair instructions or material certificates - such data is currently often difficult to find.💡 The digital product passport makes all information centrally accessible - directly from the product. No more PDFs, no more lost documents.
Simplified market surveillance & traceability
Regulatory authorities have to check products regularly - previously often with lengthy inquiries & manual checks. The Digital Product Passport enables digital real-time control, which reduces the effort for all parties involved.
What the digital product passport can really do will (positively) surprise many in the coming years
The digital product passport not only replaces analog processes - it makes them superfluous. It ensures transparency without additional effort, for compliance without a flood of paper. It streamlines processes where previously manual work slowed down progress.
Anyone who says today that the Digital Product Passport increases bureaucracy is overlooking the potential of automation and data standardization. The Digital Product Passport is not a regulatory obstacle - it is the lever for meeting regulatory requirements efficiently and in a future-proof manner.