With the new EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains, pressure is increasing on manufacturers to provide precise data on the origin and properties of materials. Companies that process wood-based products are particularly affected—such as manufacturers of furniture or kitchens.
The ECLASS classification standard supports them in meeting regulatory requirements and documenting product data across the entire product life cycle. ELCASS is organized by the association of the same name. It is a non-profit organization that further develops the standard. Acting as a consulting and implementation partner for companies in the sector, morphe* applies ECLASS with a focus on product data management, compliance, and digital twins.
The challenge: Rising regulatory requirements for wood products
Companies are required to comply with an increasing number of regulatory documentation and reporting obligations, including environmental and sustainability reporting. One regulatory area concerns deforestation and forest degradation. The EU defines deforestation as the conversion of forest land into agricultural land. Forest degradation, by contrast, refers to disturbances of the natural characteristics of forests—for example, through clear-cutting without reforestation or the conversion of natural forests into monoculture plantations.
EU Regulation EUDR is transforming the market
These issues are addressed by the EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains (European Union Deforestation Regulation, EUDR).
- Its aim is to prevent products linked to illegal or unsustainable deforestation from entering the EU internal market.
- It primarily affects industries that trade in or process certain raw materials.
- The regulation focuses in particular on the production process and the place of origin.
- It also applies to intermediate products and individual components.
The wood and paper industry is especially affected. Manufacturers, traders, and importers of wood-based products such as furniture, construction timber, pulp, paper products, or wooden packaging will in future be required to demonstrate that the wood used has not led to deforestation. Consequently, they must pay close attention to the EU Deforestation Regulation and related regulations.
Furniture and wood industries in focus
Manufacturers of custom-made furniture or kitchens, for example, process large quantities of wood from various supply sources. They must manage detailed material information for every single component. One example: a cabinet shelf is made of wood, is coated, and has a specific surface finish. Overall, it consists of multiple materials. Conventional ERP systems do not manage data at this level of detail. If a kitchen manufacturer assembles individual cabinets from modularized components, not every part has its own ERP or purchasing item number. It is often difficult to prove, for instance, that a hinge consists of 70 percent aluminum and 30 percent plastic. A lack of standardization and incomplete product information make comprehensive traceability more difficult.
The challenges at a glance
- New EU requirements demand precise evidence of material origin
- Existing IT systems often do not capture component-level information
- A lack of standardization hampers data consistency
- Global supply chains complicate end-to-end data exchange
The solution: a cross-industry classification standard creates data transparency
To meet all requirements of the EUDR, the open, cross-industry classification standard ECLASS is available. ECLASS defines characteristics, units, and value classes for products, assets, and services. ECLASS is organized by the association of the same name, which, as a non-profit organization, continuously develops the standard.
However, implementation poses challenges for many companies in the furniture industry. This is where the consulting company morphe* acts as a link between the standard and its practical application within organizations. Among other services, it provides consulting and implementation of product data architectures based on the standard, as well as support in building technical solutions with a focus on product data management, compliance, and digital twins.
Managing product data with ECLASS
In practice, many companies lack sufficient data on the materials used in their products. Complexity, insufficient standardization, and historically grown IT landscapes often result in incomplete or entirely missing data. The ECLASS standard enables the digital representation of all relevant information related to a physical object.
ECLASS complies with internationally applicable standards and meets the following criteria:
- it is fully ISO- and IEC-compliant,
- available in many languages,
- industry-independent,
- includes more than 28,000 characteristics, and
- provides machine-readable mappings to various standards.
These include, for example, the ETIM classification for technical products, Applia for household appliances, and buildingSMART for the construction industry.
Digital asset administration shell documents the product lifecycle
A particularly important element is the so-called Asset Administration Shell (AAS), which morphe* integrates into each IT landscape. This digital asset administration shell is capable of documenting products throughout their entire lifecycle. It covers not only static master data, but also dynamic data generated through repairs, updates, or product usage.
The AAS can be implemented in a neutral, IT-based data structure. It must be available over the long term and managed securely. In this way, suppliers from different countries can use the same product data. This continuous, audit-proof data set is maintained across the entire lifecycle of a product and can therefore form the basis for a digital product passport.
Digital product passports and data spaces
The digital product passport is a European regulatory initiative that initially focuses on batteries. The product passport functions like a passport: it contains all relevant characteristics of a product in the form of machine-readable data, such as information on origin, material composition, or carbon footprint. It accompanies a product “cradle to cradle”, from manufacturing through to disposal or recycling.
In this context, secure data spaces are essential, enabling companies to exchange product-related data with one another. They provide the infrastructure for sharing information securely, in a controlled manner, and across domains. Technically, these are based on federated architectures in which companies retain control over their data. This architecture makes it possible to harmonize data sources and make them usable across system boundaries.
The result: a common language for all systems
ECLASS ensures that all machines and software systems speak the same language and can communicate directly with one another, without misunderstandings in data interpretation. The ECLASS architecture significantly reduces the effort required for data research and preparation.
A company with 5,000 employees can save up to EUR 5.8 million per year through the consistent use of ECLASS and standardized data containers—solely by reducing duplicate work and inefficient processes. At the same time, transparency across product lifecycles improves. With ECLASS, material flows, recycling potential, and CO₂ footprints can be documented seamlessly.
Information on the origin of materials simplifies the transition to a circular economy, as recycling can be implemented much more quickly than with retrospective material analysis. In addition, development and production benefit from the accumulated data: products can be adapted more rapidly, and quality data is consistently available for analysis.
Summary of results
- Consistent product data enabled by ECLASS and the AAS
- Reduced effort for compliance documentation and data maintenance
- High transparency across entire product lifecycles
- Foundation established for the circular economy and the digital product passport
