How to Automate Digital Product Passport Creation (2026)

Last updated: November 5, 2026

Most of the work in a Digital Product Passport isn't the passport. Publishing a page behind a QR code is easy. The work is finding out which rules apply, getting dozens of values from suppliers, checking where each one came from, and keeping it all current for years. That's where automation pays off, and where vendors' claims differ most.

This guide walks through the passport pipeline step by step: what software can do for you, what has to stay with a person, and what to ask any vendor that says it automates DPP generation.

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The Short Answer

Almost every step can be automated except one: approving the data. You're responsible for what the passport says. Good automation reads, asks, fills, checks and publishes for you, and shows you the source of every value so the approval takes minutes, not days.

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Step by Step

1. Work out which rules apply

Each product group's passport is set by its own law: the Batteries Regulation for batteries, and an ESPR delegated act for each group such as textiles. Software can keep a catalog of those rules with their legal status (in force, dated or planned) and apply them per product, so you see the fields each passport needs. Watch out for tools that present planned rules as final. For most groups, the fields aren't adopted yet.

2. Import the data you already have

Product names, identifiers, weights, materials and manuals usually live in a PIM, ERP or spreadsheet. Import them instead of retyping: a CSV or XLSX import for a start, a PIM connector or API for ongoing updates. Decide one source of truth per field, or the passport and your catalog will drift apart.

3. Ask suppliers for exactly what they hold

This is where most of the time goes. A good request lists only the fields that supplier can answer, explains why each is needed, and lets them reply on a simple page. Automatic reminders do the chasing. The best requests accept documents: suppliers already have test reports, certificates and datasheets, and they'd rather upload them than type values into a portal.

4. Read documents and propose values

AI can read supplier PDFs, scans and photos and propose passport values. Three things separate useful extraction from a liability:

• Every value carries its source: the file, the page and the exact quote.
• It only fills what the document states, and lists what's missing instead of guessing.
• A person approves each value before it goes into the passport.

5. Generate passports at the right level

Battery passports are per battery. ESPR acts will set model, batch or item level per product group. With serial numbers or batches imported, software can create unit-level passports in bulk, each with its own identifier, status and history.

6. Publish the QR code and machine-readable formats

The QR code should follow GS1 Digital Link or another resolvable standard, and the data should be served in formats systems can read, such as JSON-LD, plus sector formats like the Asset Administration Shell or the Catena-X battery model where your buyers use them. This should be generated from the same record, never maintained by hand.

7. Keep it current, with a history you can prove

Certificates expire, suppliers change, batteries get repurposed. Automation should remind suppliers before documents expire, let you republish when data changes, and keep every published version sealed so you can show what the passport said and when.

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What Should Never Be Automated

• Approval of values that go into a published passport.
• Legal declarations and confirmations, such as a declaration of conformity or a substance declaration.
• Your decision about which product group and rules apply when the product sits between categories.

Software can prepare all of these for you. A person should sign off.

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Which Vendors Automate Which Steps

"Automated DPP" means different things depending on where a vendor started:

• PIM and product data vendors automate step 2 well: your catalog data, kept in sync.
• Supply-chain traceability platforms automate evidence from deep in the supply chain, such as mines and refiners, which matters most for raw-material provenance.
• Label and identifier vendors automate item-level identifiers and printing (steps 5 and 6).
• Brand-facing DPP platforms automate the brand's own work: rules, supplier requests, document reading, publishing and updates (steps 1 to 7).

Most brands need one platform for the passport itself and connect it to their PIM or ERP. Our comparison of the best Digital Product Passport software covers the main vendors in each group.

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How Veribl Automates It

Veribl automates the brand-side pipeline on one product record:

• Rules per product, from a catalog with each rule's legal status, and a readiness view of what's filled and what's missing.
• Imports: CSV and XLSX with templates, Shopify and Akeneo, battery and serial imports, and a REST API for ongoing updates.
• Supplier requests for exactly the fields each supplier holds. The AI assistant finds which fields are missing, works out which supplier can provide them and drafts the request for you to approve.
• Document reading: suppliers upload PDFs, scans or photos, and the AI proposes each value with its file, page and quote. The supplier checks and sends; you use or dismiss each value.
• Your own Claude: the Veribl connector lets Claude read your manuals and fill passport fields the manual states. It never publishes, and it never fills confirmations or substance declarations.
• Unit-level battery passports with status, state of health, cycles and events per battery.
• Formats from one record: JSON-LD with GS1 Digital Link, UNTP credentials, Asset Administration Shell, Catena-X Battery Pass and the EU battery format.
• Sealed versions: every published version is kept and tamper-evident, and every value shows its source.

It's free for 100 product models. Small team? See Digital Product Passports for SMEs.

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Questions to Ask Any Vendor

1. Show me a value in a published passport and where it came from: the file, the page and the quote.
2. What does a supplier see when I request data? Can they upload documents instead of typing?
3. What happens when the AI isn't sure? Does it guess or leave the field empty?
4. Can anything be published without a person approving it?
5. How do I create passports for 10,000 serial numbers at once?
6. Which formats do you serve from the same record?
7. How do you prove a published passport wasn't changed later?

Not sure where to start? Our free guides list every document and who holds it for battery passports and textile passports.

Related: what brands need to know before 2027, how to choose a DPP service provider and building Digital Product Passports.