Sustainability was high on the agenda at PLASA Show 2026 and with it, Digital Product Passports were a hot topic.

“Where are other manufacturers at right now?”

It was a question we heard repeatedly from product manufacturing leaders, often with a sense of anticipation about how quickly the rest of the industry is moving.

From the conversations we had at PLASA, manufacturers generally appear to be doing one or more of three things:

1. Assigning someone internally to lead on the DPP project, whether or not there is already a dedicated budget.

2. Starting to audit their product data and understand what information they may need to provide through a Digital Product Passport.

3. Beginning to assess DPP infrastructure and implementation options.

The main takeaway? Digital Product Passports are no longer just being discussed at board level. Manufacturers are starting to take practical steps.

At PLASA Show, Lisa led a manufacturer panel featuring Victoria Bishop from BishopSound and Andy Barnby from Instagrid, both of whom have already begun their DPP journeys in practice.

The discussion explored what Digital Product Passports mean for their businesses, the approaches they have taken from working with a DPP service provider to adopting a hybrid model and the wider opportunities they see from embedding traceability into their products.

The audience was also very much part of the conversation. Around a third of attendees represented manufacturers, and several highlighted the continued uncertainty around exactly what product data will ultimately be expected.

One interesting point raised was that manufacturers that have already completed Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) may be in a particularly strong position to begin their DPP journey, as they already hold a significant amount of relevant product and sustainability data.

A few of the key takeaways from the panel

1. You do not have to wait for every detail of the regulation before getting started.

There is understandably some hesitation around exactly what product data will ultimately be required within a DPP. However, manufacturers do not need to wait until every requirement is finalised.

You can start with the product data you already have and build incrementally, adding further information as it becomes available or as new requirements come into force.

2. The manufacturers furthest ahead are looking beyond compliance.

Manufacturers already progressing their DPP projects are not necessarily doing so purely because of EU regulation.

They are also looking at how product traceability can help them demonstrate provenance, support product registration, make information easier to access for repair and servicing, and provide the information needed for trade-in and circularity programmes.

For these companies, the Digital Product Passport is becoming more than a compliance exercise, it is part of the wider digital infrastructure around the product.

3. There is no single approach to DPP infrastructure.

One of the biggest areas of discussion was how manufacturers are approaching the technology behind their Digital Product Passports.

BishopSound is working with an industry-focused Digital Product Passport service provider, while Instagrid has taken a hybrid approach, combining internal development with external consultancy and expertise.

The right approach will depend on the manufacturer's internal capabilities, available resources and how deeply they want the DPP to integrate with their existing product and data infrastructure.

Manufacturers are moving from awareness to action

Overall, the conversation at PLASA showed a noticeable shift.

Manufacturers are no longer asking simply, “What is a Digital Product Passport?”

They are beginning to ask:

What data do we already have? What are we missing? Who should own this internally? And what infrastructure should we use?

At the show, this was also something we were actively helping manufacturers explore through our DPP Readiness Package.

It gives manufacturers a product data audit, an implementation plan, an assessment of how the regulations are likely to affect their business, and a business case that DPP project managers can use to support conversations with leadership teams and other departments.

The regulation may be the catalyst, but the conversations at PLASA suggest that manufacturers are increasingly recognising the broader opportunity: using Digital Product Passports to build better product traceability, improve access to product information and create more value throughout the product lifecycle.