For decades, supply chain visibility meant knowing where your product was and when it would arrive. Track and trace technologies filled that need. But as regulations tighten and consumers demand transparency, the bar has been raised. But there is a new solution in the market for this challenge. Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a new model that not only tracks movement, but also stores and shares a product’s entire lifecycle data.
Pioneered under the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), Digital Product Passports aim to centralize key information about a product’s origin, materials, repairability, emissions, and disposal. And all of this in a standardized digital format. Starting with high-impact sectors such as batteries, textiles, and electronics, these passports are expected to become mandatory in the EU for thousands of product categories by 2030.
The Catch
But here’s the catch. With DPPs, data ownership and governance become central issues. Who controls the passport? The OEM? The supplier? The platform provider? For complex, multi-tiered supply chains, this is no small question. Suppliers may be hesitant to share sensitive information that could reveal competitive costs or proprietary inputs. At the same time, regulators and customers are demanding transparency and traceability down to the raw material level.
This is creating a new kind of tension in supply chain management. SCM leaders are torn between data transparency and competitive confidentiality.
Tech platforms are racing to solve this with permissioned data layers, blockchain-based sharing protocols, and industry-wide data governance frameworks (such as Catena-X in automotive and CIRPASS in electronics). Still, interoperability remains a challenge without common data standards and enforceable rules on who can access and edit which part of the passport; companies risk falling into fragmented, siloed ecosystems again.
What Does This Mean?
The broader shift driven by Digital Product Passports is clear. Product data cannot be just an additional function; it has to be a strategic driver. For supply chain leaders, this means investing not just in traceability tools, but in digital infrastructure, partnerships, and governance models that balance transparency with control.
Conclusion
As the DPP rollout accelerates globally, the question is not just how much you know about your product; it is who gets to know it, and who gets to decide.
