Questions manufacturers ask
These come from real conversations with manufacturers. Each answer says exactly what the product does, so you can judge it against your own line.
Your buyer asked for a passport
What is a Digital Product Passport, in one paragraph?
A page on the internet that belongs to one physical item you made, reached by scanning a code printed on that item. It is distinct from a PDF of your catalogue, and distinct from the paper booklet that goes in the box with the test values and the QC stamp — an engineer in Turkey, Romania or Bulgaria may know that as a “product passport” already, and this is a different thing. The code carries a serial number, so unit 4182 and unit 19882 open different pages even though the machines look identical.
My buyer emailed asking for one. What do I actually send them?
A link. Publish the one model they buy from you — the free tier covers three — and reply with the address of that product's page and one sentence asking whether it is what they meant. That costs you nothing, it takes about twenty minutes, and it moves the question back to the person who raised it. Most of the value of the free tier is this, not running your business on it.
Will this satisfy my buyer's compliance requirement?
That is a question for whoever handles conformity for your products, and it depends on your sector and your buyer's letter. What we can tell you precisely is what we provide: a passport page per unit, reached by a GS1 Digital Link printed on the product, containing the specifications, documents, warranty dates, error codes and parts data you publish. Your buyer can look at exactly that and confirm whether it is what they asked for. Send them the link and let them judge it — the free tier exists for that.
How long does it take to publish the first one?
About twenty minutes for a product you already have documentation for. There is no integration, nothing is installed, and nobody needs to open your ERP. You need a GTIN for the product — that is the one thing we cannot give you.
How it works on a real product line
Do I need a GTIN? What if I don't have one?
Yes, one per product model. A GTIN comes from GS1 in your country and we are not the ones who issue it. If you already sell through retail you almost certainly have them. If you do not, that is a separate piece of admin with its own cost and timeline, and you should start it before you start with us.
Can I keep my own serial numbers?
Yes. Your serial format is yours — VK75-2024-0413 or whatever your production sheet already prints. We store it as you give it to us and put it in the code. You do not change your numbering to use this.
How does the code get onto the product?
Two ways, and both are your existing physical process. It can be printed as a QR code on the label you already print, in which case your label supplier needs a file per unit rather than one file per model. Or it can be written to an NFC tag. What survives on your product is your call, not ours — a sticker that lives on a compressor in an oil-heavy basement is a different decision from one on a kettle box. Ask us before you commit a print run.
What about the machines already out there?
Retrofitting is its own step. A machine you built in 2011 carries no code, and it acquires one only when somebody fits it. What is possible is ordering plates or labels with serials assigned in advance and having them fitted during a service visit. That is a real project with a real cost, and it is worth discussing if your installed base is where your priority lies.
What if there's no signal where the product is?
The scan needs a connection. Compressor rooms and bakery cellars are exactly the environments where one is unavailable, and that applies equally to every product of this kind. What we would suggest is that anything a technician needs at the machine — an error code table, a parts list — also exists on paper or in a file they already carry. The passport is worth having alongside those, rather than in place of them.
Ten years from now
What happens to the codes if I stop paying?
They keep resolving. We commit to resolving every passport we publish for at least ten years from the day it is published — including if you move to another vendor. The code is already printed on a product somebody owns, and it keeps working. What we commit to is permanence: the address keeps meaning this exact unit, and the pair of GTIN and serial stays reserved for it. Availability is best effort, as with any service on the internet — the commitment is that the meaning never moves.
The code points at your domain. What if you disappear?
A fair question, with two parts to the answer. The code is not a link to a fixed page — it is a lookup, and the destination is data we can change. So a printed code is not tied to whatever it pointed at the day it was printed. The second part is that the printed address sits on a domain we hold. If you would rather your codes carried your own domain, write to us and we will set that up with you — it is a conversation rather than a setting in the dashboard.
Can I get my data out?
Yes, and you should ask about it before you need it. Your product data, your serial numbers and the mapping between them are yours. Write to us and we will get you an export.
How big is your team?
Small and deliberately so. You deal directly with the people who build the product, and a message about your account reaches someone who can act on it the same day. We would rather you knew the shape of the company before you chose it than after. Manufacturers work with focused suppliers all the time, and it is the reason the answers on this page are specific.
What it costs
Why is it €39 when a consultancy quoted five figures?
Because they are quoting a project and we are selling software. A consultancy reads your sector's regulation, audits your product data and takes on responsibility for the answer. Our scope is the passport itself: we build it, host it and keep it resolving. If what you need is the first, the price difference reflects a different kind of work.
I have more than five products. What then?
Write to us with two numbers — how many passports, and roughly how many units a year — and we will send back a price. A passport belongs to one model, meaning one GTIN, so a variant you sell separately counts as its own. Bands above five are quoted individually so the number fits your catalogue rather than a table.
Is the free tier really free?
Three published passports and a hundred serial numbers, no card, no end date. A hundred serials covers a pilot batch — enough to publish a model, send your buyer the link and see the whole flow end to end before you commit anything.
Another question?
Publish one passport and look at it on your phone. It is the fastest way to find out whether this is the thing your buyer meant.
Write to us directly: [email protected]