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Product content automation – the efficiency boost for your product data
From data onboarding to product description generation, AI can make the job of product data managers much easier. Find out how here.
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by Daniela Köhler
Publications officer
Regardless of whether it’s T-shirts, drills or tablets, the EU Commission is planning to gradually introduce Digital Product Passports for all goods traded in the EU starting in 2027. Whilst consumers can relax and look forward to the introduction, e-commerce managers need to start preparing now.
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is simply a standardised data record that bundles specific information and makes it electronically accessible via a data carrier. What materials does the product contain? Where do they originate from? Who produced and transported the product, and under what conditions? How will the product be repaired or disposed of if defective? The DPP will provide answers to questions like these. However, what exactly the DPP will need to contain has yet to be decided.
The EU Commission intends to define this content specifically for different product categories – starting with batteries, followed by textiles and electrical appliances. That means the Battery Pass will be mandatory in the EU from 2027. A consortium of researchers and business associations is currently developing suitable prototypes for the various categories on behalf of the EU Commission. The legal framework for this is provided by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which was passed in May 2023.
The Ecodesign regulation and DPP are cornerstones of the EU’s European Green Deal, which aims to ensure the EU is climate-neutral by 2050. “Our planet’s resources are finite and so we need to be more conscious of how we use them. Sustainable products should thus be the standard in the EU,” explained Christiane Rohleder, State Secretary for the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). According to Ms. Rohleder, only products that are durable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable while complying with the regulations governing sustainable products will be approved in the EU in the future.
This is where the DPP has a major advantage: with a DPP present, it will be much easier to determine whether companies comply with the applicable legal regulations than without one. Moreover, through greater transparency across the entire product lifecycle, the EU Commission expects consumers, industry, and the waste management sector to act in a more sustainable way. As Rohleder says, “With the Digital Product Passport, we are also strengthening the rights of consumers throughout the EU, informing them of the environmental footprint of various products in detail so that they can make a conscious decision to choose the most sustainable goods.”
Although many points remain to be clarified, one thing is already certain: the DPP will be a dynamic data record, not a rigid construct. Each passport will accompany a product throughout its lifecycle, with all involved parties continually adding information – starting with the raw material producers and continuing on to the manufacturers, retailers, consumers, repair businesses and waste disposal companies. Access to data could be via a QR code affixed to the respective products or packaging; RFID chips are also another conceivable option. The contents of the product passport should be stored in a decentralised place, such as on the manufacturers’ websites.
This means that online shop operators will need to actively participate in maintaining the DPP. This could be, for example, by adding consumer feedback to the data record. Bearing in mind that such a task certainly cannot be performed manually, it is all the more important for online retailers to keep track of their product data to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the additional legal requirements. The good news is that those already using a powerful tool for holistic product information management (PIM) can anticipate the launch of DPP with confidence. Why? Modern solutions like novomind iPIM are all-rounders when it comes to product information. The tool draws together data from different sources and areas into a central platform, creating a single source of truth, so that the data can be managed, supplemented and displayed in all relevant standard formats and classifications according to channel.
Whatever the legislators decide upon, online shop operators equipped with novomind iPIM are ideally prepared for the DPP. All scenarios can be easily mapped and the new legal requirements can be reliably met. The fact that novomind iPIM enables traders to supplement their product data with such attributes as recyclability, sustainable cultivation, or durability – thereby ensuring greater transparency in regard to sustainability – is another benefit. This competitive advantage should not be underestimated, especially in light of how relevant the topic is.
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