From Obligation to Advantage: Purple Unity as Your Digital Product Passport Platform

What the EU mandates

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, EU 2024/1781) obliges manufacturers, importers and distributors to make a Digital Product Passport (DPP) available for a growing range of product categories. Textiles and batteries are already designated; industrial equipment, construction materials and electronics will follow rapidly.

A DPP is far more than a barcode or PDF. It is a living digital record maintained throughout the entire lifecycle of a product: from manufacturing and transport to maintenance, repair, and ultimately reuse or recycling.

Every DPP must contain at minimum:

• A unique product identifier (serial number, batch code or GTIN)

• Material and chemical composition data

• Carbon footprint and environmental impact

• Instructions for safe use, maintenance and disassembly

• Repair information and availability of spare parts

• Certificates of conformity and regulatory documents

• Lifecycle events: installation, maintenance, incidents, decommissioning

Not all data needs to be publicly visible. The regulation allows for tiered access: specific datasets are restricted to authorized repair technicians, recyclers or national authorities.

Purple Unity as a DPP platform

Purple Unity was originally built as a platform for asset management and knowledge sharing, which makes it ideally suited as the foundation for a Digital Product Passport.

Where traditional ERP or PLM systems create closed data silos, Purple Unity offers an open, publishable layer on which you can determine per asset:

• Which information is visible to the general public

• Which data is accessible only to authorised parties

• Which documents and events are available to internal staff only

Every product or installation becomes its own Purple Unity asset instance: a unique, searchable digital dossier containing all relevant metadata, documents and history.

Because Purple Unity works with structured data models, you can configure the system precisely for the fields that ESPR mandates for your product category. Not a generic template, but a solution tailored to your sector.

All asset information in one place

A DPP combines data from multiple sources. Purple Unity acts as the connecting layer that aggregates and publishes all that information.

Per asset instance you record:

• Basic data: name, type, serial number, manufacturing date, manufacturer

• Technical specifications: power, dimensions, materials, weight

• Sub-assets: component lists with their own passport information per part

• Documentation: manuals, drawings, certificates as attachments or links

• Instructions: assembly, operation, maintenance, safety data sheets

• CO2 and sustainability data: carbon footprint, energy efficiency, eco-labels

• Supplier information: manufacturer, supplier, country of origin

The data structure is flexible: you define which fields are relevant for your product category and sector. Sub-assets have their own passport with their own documentation, making the entire product structure transparent and searchable.

Via a QR code or the direct URL of an asset instance, end users, technicians or inspectors can immediately access the relevant information, without needing access to your internal systems.

Controlled access: the right data for the right party

One of the core requirements of ESPR is differentiated access: consumers see different information than inspectors or recyclers. Purple Unity supports this natively via a layered access model.

Three access layers:

• Public layer: basic product data, user manuals, energy labels. Accessible via QR code or URL without logging in.

• Authorised layer: extended technical documentation, repair diagrams, spare parts catalogues. Accessible to certified partners and technicians.

• Internal layer: purchase prices, supplier contracts, internal test reports. For internal staff only.

This tiered structure aligns directly with the access rights framework that ESPR prescribes for the European product data space. You meet the transparency obligation without exposing sensitive business information.

Access control operates at the level of individual assets, document types and even specific fields. This lets you define per customer, partner or authority exactly which information is visible.

From installation to end of life: events and cases

One of the most valuable aspects of a living DPP is the ability to record events throughout the lifecycle of a product. Purple Unity provides a case and event structure for this purpose.

Typical events you register:

• Commissioning: date, location, installer, initial condition

• Planned maintenance: work carried out, replaced parts, materials used

• Failures and incidents: description, cause, corrective actions

• Upgrades and modifications: changed specifications, new firmware or software

• Inspections and certifications: date, conducting party, outcome

• Decommissioning: method of disposal, recycling destination, CO2 reduction

Each event is time-stamped, linked to a responsible party and optionally accompanied by attachments. This creates a complete audit trail that regulators, insurers and end customers can view directly, at the appropriate access level.

For products subject to ESPR requirements, this audit trail is not a nice-to-have but a legal obligation. Purple Unity builds it automatically, without additional administrative burden for your staff.

Spare parts, documentation and external links

ESPR obliges manufacturers to make spare part information available throughout the entire lifecycle of a product. Purple Unity makes this straightforward to manage.

Per asset you can:

• Link directly to the manufacturer's spare parts catalogue

• Attach parts as sub-assets with their own DPP information

• List alternative suppliers and compatible parts

• Track lead times and End-of-Life dates

• Add exploded-view drawings and assembly diagrams

In addition, external documents and links can be added: standards, EU regulations, supplier portals, warranty documents or the official EPREL registration. Purple Unity becomes the central starting point for anyone who needs information about your product.

Because spare parts are set up as sub-assets, they have their own digital passport with material composition, supplier and origin. This makes your offering more attractive for circular procurement and green tenders.

Ready for the future

The introduction of the Digital Product Passport is not a one-time compliance project. It is the beginning of a fundamental shift towards transparency and circularity in the production chain.

Organisations that invest now in a solid DPP infrastructure:

• Meet EU obligations without last-minute costs

• Build customer trust through openness about material use and sustainability

• Improve their after-sales service with real-time asset data

• Reduce maintenance costs through proactive lifecycle tracking

• Are ready for additional legislation coming into force in 2028-2030

Purple Unity is deployable as a DPP platform today. No multi-year implementation project, but a pragmatic start with the data you already have. Scalable towards full ESPR compliance as the obligations for your product category come into force.

Want to know how Purple Unity can support your DPP strategy? Get in touch for a demo or strategic conversation.