Awais Munawar, Digital Team Lead, Digital Factory at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS)

Traceability, compliance and safety have long been core concerns for the aviation industry’s supply chain, with a number of strategies in place to help manufacturers and operators manage and share information to prove authenticity and maintain stringent standards. However, a new approach could be on the cusp of transforming ways of working across the manufacturing supply chain – embedding essential product data and certification in a scannable, digital format via a digital product passport (DPP).

As part of the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), DPPs are fast becoming an essential requirement for specific product categories from 2027, starting with batteries and textiles, before being expanded to include a range of items such as chemicals, paints, tyres, iron, steel and aluminium. Products that fall under the regulations can only be sold in the EU market if a DPP is available. The ESPR mandates the creation of a standardised DPP for products sold in the EU. This regulation will be phased in, starting with batteries by 2027. This top-down regulatory requirement is forcing industries to achieve a level of data standardisation that sectors has struggled to accomplish on its own for decades. By creating a legal necessity for a common digital language, this sustainability law may inadvertently provide the breakthrough the maintenance, Aerospace repair and overhaul (MRO) industry could leverage to their advantage.

While not yet including aircraft parts specifically, the early adoption of DPPs could prove a huge opportunity for the sector in terms of the technology’s ability to provide full transparency on a product’s manufacturing, performance and maintenance history. Data about a part’s sustainability and environmental footprint can also be included, with better access to information also becoming a key enabler to scale and improve remanufacturing and circularity processes, helping to keep materials in use for as long as possible.  

Specific data can be included in a part’s DPP from the outset, such as information about the original materials, facilities and repair processes, as well as technical data, including disassembly sequences, component material composition, and tracking of repair cycles. A DPP could also provide a link back to the original manufacturer, creating new opportunities for service-based business models, where end users return the parts to the manufacturer for repair and remanufacturing long after the original purchase.

Opportunities In Maintenance, Repair And Overhaul 

While aircraft design and manufacturing have relied on data standardisation for decades, this digital thread rarely transfers to the operational life of the aircraft. Once an airline takes delivery, the digital record from the factory is replaced by a patchwork of disparate IT systems, manual data entry, and physical logbooks, breaking the continuity of the digital thread.

Yet, demand for MRO is set to triple, driven by aging aircraft fleets requiring more extensive upkeep. This is creating pressure to source parts from alternative markets to maintain turnaround times, introducing significant challenges around provenance and traceability. Combined with limited digitalisation – with many MRO processes still largely paper-based -and ongoing aerospace supply chain disruption, the risk of material waste, mismatched provenance and unverified components entering the supply chain increases. A DPP can help address these risks by providing secure, trusted product data throughout the lifecycle, improving efficiency and confidence across the sector.

DPPs could also be a critical piece in the puzzle for maintaining unbroken digital records of ownership, service history, inspection results, and certification. Through digitally linked identifiers, maintenance crews and regulators could instantly access data on a part’s repair history or airworthiness status. This eliminates paper-based logs and accelerates component replacement or refurbishment processes, while improving safety audits and ensuring total compliance transparency. For MRO teams, access to data can support predictive maintenance and planning for a range of repair scenarios.

Since DPP is regulation-driven, the aerospace industry could also take advantage of this approach by leveraging knowledge from different sectors on data sharing. In turn, NMIS can support aerospace companies not only in creating DPPs, but also in showcasing operational value that results in clear ROIs.

By standardising and digitising records, DPPs can also streamline aircraft recycling and disassembly at end‑of‑life. When a part reaches the final point in its lifecycle, DPP data can assist with identifying recoverable materials and safe disposal routes, increasing resource recovery efficiency.​

Future Aircraft Design

For designing the next generation of aircraft, DPPs could provide significant benefits. Access to insights about all stages of a part’s operation, its durability, maintenance records and information about the original design can allow for improvements to be made, where possible, throughout the supply chain. 

Counterfeit parts remain a challenge in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimating that more than 520,000 counterfeit or unapproved parts are installed on aircraft each year[1]. Despite strict regulation, fraudulent or uncertified components continue to infiltrate global aerospace supply chains, posing serious safety, operational, and reputational risks. With a digital record of authenticity adopted as standard, this risk could be dramatically reduced. 

Emerging Use Cases

Although still in their early stages, we are seeing examples of DPPs being used in the sector. For example, a project between Airbus and Circularise, which concluded last year, generated a proof of concept for a DPP for aircraft cabin parts, designed to boost traceability and ultimately improve circularity. The project included 88 data points for individual cabin components, from raw materials to the final product, providing detailed lifecycle information to ensure they can be effectively reused or recycled at the end of their lifecycle, rather than ending up in landfill[2].

Enabling DPPs To Take Off

Through a well-designed DPP, manufacturers can build in intelligence along the product lifecycle, from design through to end of use. By embedding digital tools and data into every step, we can enable more efficient decisions about repair, reuse, and recovery while capturing untapped value.

NMIS has been working on the area for several years and deployed the DPP in various companies, as part of its ReMake programme, creating a bespoke DPP data model for Remanufacturing in high-integrity sectors such as aviation. NMIS can support aerospace companies not only in creating DPPs, but also in showcasing operational value that results in clear ROIs.

The overall aim is to help businesses capitalise on the opportunities that DPPs can bring, particularly in terms of supply chain resilience and sustainability, by optimising remanufacturing processes and enhancing product quality. 

Our ambition is to support the industry with access to expertise, data models and requirements to help put DPPs into practice. We have developed the tooling and the sandbox environment to allow software to be explored and trialled, with an understanding of the data requirements to help businesses refine what they truly need from a software partner. We can also help to facilitate discussions between partners across the entire industry, connecting those in manufacturing, standards bodies and technology developers together to accelerate adoption.

To support the wider implementation of DPPs in aerospace, it’s essential that alongside technology development, the workforce is equipped with the right skills to engage with the digital tools and data effectively. Upskilling employees to navigate these new systems will be key to unlocking the full potential of DPPs. As part of our ReMake training, we offer fully funded sessions on a variety of circularity topics, including DPPs and their transformative role in manufacturing.

The potential impact of digital product passports is far-reaching, from sustainability to supply chain resilience, the creation of new business models, reduced part lead times and more efficient maintenance schedules. If we work together to collaborate across the supply chain and encourage early adoption of a standardised system, the industry could see these benefits realised sooner rather than later. 

NMIS is operated by the University of Strathclyde and part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult.