The anatomy of a DPP solution based on GS1 standards

The concept of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is rapidly gaining traction as industries and regulators push for more transparency, sustainability, and traceability across supply chains. At its core, a DPP is a structured digital record that travels with a product throughout its lifecycle. It enables consumers, regulators, and business partners to access trusted information about a product’s origin, composition, environmental footprint, certifications, and supply chain journey.

But how do you implement such a system in practice, especially if you want to follow open GS1 standards to avoid lock-in to any specific vendor? Let’s break down the anatomy of a DPP solution based on GS1 standards into its key components, as illustrated in the following diagram:

1) Put a QR code on the product

The first building block of a Digital Product Passport solution is the data carrier. In simple terms, a data carrier is the physical technology that links a product to its digital passport. It could be a QR code, barcode, RFID tag, or another machine-readable symbol.

Under the EU’s Digital Product Passport legislation, every covered product must have a data carrier physically present on the product, its packaging, or its documentation. This ensures that anyone—whether it’s a consumer, a regulator, or a recycler—can access the passport directly from the product itself, without needing to search online or rely on separate databases. The data carrier is tied to a unique product identifier, making it the trusted “key” to unlock verified information.

Among the different options, QR codes are one of the best choices for most industries. They are a mature and well defined standard, inexpensive to print, easy to scan with any modern smartphone, and capable of encoding a GS1 Digital Link URL that connects seamlessly to product identifiers. A QR code that contains a web address effectively makes every product “web-enabled,” allowing instant access to digital information at the item, batch, or model level.

In short, the QR code serves as the visible bridge between the physical product and its digital twin, ensuring compliance with DPP legislation while offering the most practical and user-friendly experience.

2) Populate the QR code with a GS1 Digital Link

As mentioned previously, the data carrier (in our example, a QR code) needs to include a unique product identifier - at either the "model", "batch" or "item" level depending on industry (learn more about the different DPP levels in our post here).

One of the best DPP compliant unique product identifier schemes to use is the GS1 Digital Link. A Digital Link is a specially structured web address (this structure is defined in an openly published standard) that contains a product identifier. Because it is also a web address, any consumer can use a smart phone to load the page in their browser.

Let's look at an example of a Digital Link web address at item level: 

https://example.com/01/01234567890122/21/SERIAL123

• The blue section (01234567890122) is the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the product, which uniquely identifies the type of product in question (e.g. a specific sweater in a specific colour and size). It is preceded by the prefix /01/ which is a unique code in GS1 called an "Application Identifier" and, in this case, signals that the next piece of data is a GTIN. Learn more about GS1 Application Identifiers here.
• The green section (SERIAL123) is the serial ID of the item. This is a globally unique ID for an individual item among its product class. It is preceded by the prefix /21/  which signals that the next piece of data is a serial ID in the GS1 system of standards.
• A GTIN and Serial ID  together uniquely identify a specific item

Learn more about the GS1 Digital Link standard in our in depth guide here.

3) Implement a GS1 Digital Link Resolver

The web address in the QR code needs to lead to a web page. But its a good idea to decouple the identifier (which is printed on a product shipped out the door and therefore can't change) from the DPP web page (which could change often). This is exactly what a GS1 Digital Link resolver does. Think of the resolver as traffic control. It hosts the Digital Link URLs, and contains rules (that can easily be modified) that decide which webpage a consumer should be forwarded to based on what identity was scanned.

It can also return special, specific data when instructed to do so. For example, an AI agent may request machine-readable traceability data in a GS1 standard format. Or check whether the product is affected by a recall.

4) Implement the DPP webpage

• Flexibility: Product information can be updated dynamically as new data becomes available—such as certifications, recalls, or recycling instructions—without redesigning the whole page.
• Consistency: A CMS enforces structured templates, ensuring that every DPP page presents information in a clear, standardised way across all products.
• Scalability: Whether a company manages hundreds or millions of SKUs, a CMS can automatically generate and maintain the corresponding passport pages.
• Integration: Modern CMS platforms can connect directly to data sources (internal systems or supplier feeds), so that updates flow into DPP pages in real time.

5) Connect the web page to the data

The data that the DPP web page needs to display falls into two categories:

Structured data is the kind of information that fits neatly into boxes and tables. Think of it like a spreadsheet: product name, batch number, expiry date, or a list of input materials. Because it’s organised in a standard way, computers can easily read, share, and compare it. Structured data is what regulators and supply chain systems rely on for compliance and traceability. There are several GS1 data standards that can be leveraged in this category, which means you don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to thinking about a data model that can handle DPP requirements. This includes:

• The GDSN and its associated data model for attributes about types/models of products, such as product name (these change very slowly and so are often called "master" data or "static" data). 
• The GS1 EPCIS standard which is an excellent way of storing information that may change between batches or items (also called "dynamic" data); such as where and when exactly an item was manufactured, its expiry date and lot number, and which specific input materials from which manufacturers were involved. To learn more about the GS1 EPCIS standard, check out our guide here.

Unstructured data, on the other hand, is more free-form. This is the kind of information that doesn’t fit so neatly into rows and columns. Examples include product photos and schematics, instruction manuals, certificates in PDF format, or even short videos. It’s the type of content that makes sense to humans but isn’t always easy for machines to process automatically.

Both types of data are important in a DPP. The structured side provides the official facts—clear, standardised, and machine-readable. The unstructured side provides the rich context that helps people understand and trust the product. When combined, they create a complete picture: accurate enough for a regulator, but engaging and useful for a consumer.

6) Data Integration and Connectivity

You may find that many of the data elements required in a Digital Product Passport are already captured in your existing IT systems. Common IT systems that may hold data relevant to DPP include:

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – Holds core business and product data such as materials used, suppliers, batch numbers, costs, and compliance records that help prove origin and sustainability.

• MES (Manufacturing Execution System) – Tracks what happens during production, including process parameters, equipment used, and quality control results, which are essential for traceability and compliance reporting.

• PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) – Manages product design and development information, such as technical specifications, bills of materials, and change history, which can demonstrate how products were designed for sustainability or repairability.

• PIM (Product Information Management) – Stores marketing and commercial product data like product descriptions, attributes, images, and packaging details, ensuring that the consumer-facing side of the DPP is complete and accurate.

You may also need data from your suppliers and 3rd parties to complete your product's DPP. To keep integration costs low, standards become absolutely essential when it comes to exchanging data between different organisations. GS1 has several excellent standards to help, including GDSN and the GS1 Web Vocabulary for more static product master data, EDI for transactional data, and EPCIS for supply chain events.

You will need to either fetch and collate this data into a central repository (ideally based on GS1 standards!) or at least make it accessible to your website electronically. This is where system integration tools come in, such as Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) tools or API gateways and integration buses.

Putting It All Together

In summary, here’s how it works in practice:

1. A consumer scans a QR code on a product on their phone.

2. The phone retrieves a Digital Link URL from the QR code and loads it in its browser.

3. The request for the web page is processed by a Digital Link Resolver, which determines the right destination.

4. The resolver redirects to a web page hosted by a CMS.

5. The CMS presents the DPP, combining structured GS1-compliant data with rich unstructured content.

6. Data integration systems keep the DPP updated, pulling from both internal and external sources.

7. At every step, GS1 standards ensure that the information is consistent, interoperable, and trustworthy; keeping integration costs low and avoiding vendor lock-in.

How TrackVision Helps

Did you know the TrackVision traceability system - based exclusively on open GS1 standards - can provide every component in the solution we've described today? This includes:

• QR code printing in factory and labelling environments
• GS1 Digital Link resolver implementation and serial code generation
• A web content management system and DPP webpage hosting
• A scalable cloud database for structured and unstructured data, following GS1 data standards
• A suite of integration tools to help fetch and transform data from your existing IT systems
• Implementations of GS1 data exchange standards, such as EPCIS, to help exchange data with other businesses

You can choose to adopt the entire stack, or pick and choose a subset of features to augment your existing capabilities. Contact us today to learn more!