For the digital product passport of aluminium profiles you typically need a number of standard documents: the material certificate with the alloy designation, information on the origin of the raw material (including the share of recycled aluminium if known), the technical drawing or die specification, information on heat treatment and temper designation (for example T5 or T6), and any test reports on mechanical properties. In addition, the digital product passport includes information on the manufacturer or importer, as designated by the regulation as the responsible party for the information provided.
What more often raises questions with profiles than with, for example, castings or packaging, is surface treatment. A large proportion of aluminium profiles are anodised or powder coated after extrusion, and this is often not done by the same party that extruded the profile. This means that the documents for the passport do not come from one company, but from at least two links in the supply chain. This is the detail where companies working with profiles most often encounter problems: not the collection of basic data, but bringing together data that lies with different parties.
The core: material and origin
The basis of any passport is the composition of the material. For profiles, this is the alloy code, supplemented with information on the origin of the raw material. Companies working with primary aluminium typically have a certificate from the smelter or supplier. Companies working with (partly) recycled aluminium additionally need information on the scrap share and its origin, as far as known. This information forms the starting point and does not change when the profile is later processed.
What changes through post-extrusion processing
As soon as a profile is anodised or coated, additional information is added: the type of treatment, the layer thickness used, and where relevant the chemical composition of the coating used. This information belongs in the passport, even if the processing does not take place in the same company as the extrusion. In practice, this means that as a principal or assembly company you sometimes have to find out which party in your supply chain holds this information, and that party must be willing and able to provide it. If you overlook this link, you risk the passport being incomplete at precisely the point where the end user looks most closely: the visible surface.
Who supplies which document
With profiles it is therefore useful to map out in advance which party supplies which document: the extruder for the alloy and basic processing, the anodiser or coater for the surface treatment, and yourself or your importer for the information that the regulation assigns to the responsible party. This is not only a matter of gathering data, but also of making agreements about who supplies which document and when. You should have this discussion before the passport is compiled, not after. determined on a case-by-case basis which documents are required provides a starting point for each product group.
Where these documents come together
The passport itself is where all this information comes together as one whole that can be consulted via the QR data carrier. How this information is precisely processed and where it comes from can be seen at how the data is processed into a passport. For companies that want to see which documents are relevant in their specific case, a brief inventory is often quicker than working through the full text. A first indication is available with in a few questions see which documents belong to you.
Whether a specific situation falls precisely under these rules, and which documents are actually mandatory, is for the competent supervisory authority or a lawyer to assess. This article describes the common structure of documents, not a ruling on your specific business.
Would you like to know which documents are concretely needed for your profiles, and who should supply them in your chain? Take the free quick-scan or browse through the answers to frequently asked questions about the passport to see where your situation fits best.