Product Passport⚓︎
Your documentation, one scan away.
The Product Passport gives every machine or product its own URL, reachable by scanning a QR code attached to the physical unit. Customers, partners, and field technicians scan the code, enter an 8 character key code where one is required, and land on the right documentation for that exact asset. No account, no login, and no support ticket are needed for public content.
Why a Product Passport⚓︎
- Take load off your support channels. Customers and field technicians reach the right documentation for the exact machine in front of them by scanning a code and get their answer in seconds, without contacting your team. Fewer of them call, email, or open a ticket to get what they need.
- Share documentation that is always up to date. One QR code always points to the current version of every document. Update once, and everyone who scans sees the latest version, with no reprints and no outdated PDFs in circulation.
- Focus on what reaches whom, not on how to deploy it. You decide which content each audience sees. KNOWRON handles the hosting, availability, and delivery, so your team spends its time on documentation instead of on infrastructure that is not your core competency.
Enable the Product Passport for your machines
Want to give your customers self-service access to their documentation? Talk to your KNOWRON Customer Success contact, or reach out to sales@knowron.com, to enable the Product Passport for your machines or projects.
Digital Product Passports and EU compliance⚓︎
The Product Passport is built for two regulatory trends that push product documentation toward digital records. They are distinct, and the Passport supports both.
- The EU Machinery Regulation (EU 2023/1230) allows instructions for use to be delivered digitally rather than only on paper. It applies from 20 January 2027.
- The Digital Product Passport (DPP), introduced through the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, EU 2024/1781), will require a structured digital record per product for a growing set of product categories, phased in over the coming years.
For digital instructions under the Machinery Regulation, the documentation must be:
- Easily accessible
- Free of paywalls
- Available for at least 10 years after the machine is placed on the market
KNOWRON handles the infrastructure behind these requirements: long term hosting, document version control, machine specific accuracy, and guaranteed availability throughout the compliance window. The QR code stays the same even as documentation is updated, so there is no reprinting.
Beyond compliance
A well structured Passport is also a digital touchpoint for support, sales, and marketing. Every machine you ship becomes a direct channel to your customers.
Key capabilities⚓︎
| Capability | Detail |
|---|---|
| Per-machine QR codes | Each machine gets a unique, permanent QR code you attach to the physical unit |
| Tiered access control | One URL, three visibility levels. You choose what each audience can see |
| Key code access | Gated content opens with an 8 character key code, either per machine or a master key code for a whole fleet |
| AI Assistant on the Passport | Visitors can ask questions, and the assistant answers from the sources you expose on that Passport |
| Assistant credits | Assistant usage draws on a credit allowance. When it is used up, documents stay accessible. |
| Long-term hosting | KNOWRON guarantees uptime and document availability throughout the compliance timeline |
| Version control | Document updates appear automatically, with no need to reprint or redistribute QR codes |
What's on a Passport⚓︎
Each Passport is tied to a specific machine or product and can contain:
- Machine specification details. Technical data, dimensions, power ratings, and other key attributes. These populate automatically from the equipment number and product attributes you enter during onboarding.
- An external link of your choice, for example your support portal or product page.
- AI Assistant access, answering from the sources you expose for that machine.
- Selected knowledge base content. The specific items you choose to expose, filtered by visibility.
Three access levels from one QR code⚓︎
The same QR code can deliver three different levels of information depending on who scans it and which key code they hold. You control what each audience sees through the content visibility settings.
🌎 Public⚓︎
Anyone with physical access to the machine can scan the code and reach public content with no key code. This level is not indexed by search engines.
Best for: Marketing brochures, compliance documents such as conformity declarations and certificates, machine specifications, and general product information.
🏠 Clients⚓︎
Your customers unlock a deeper layer by entering a key code. A per machine key code opens one asset, and a master key code opens a whole fleet. That is how service crews reach documentation for any covered machine in the field with a single code. This layer is available to your customers, and only your customers.
Best for: User and maintenance manuals, spare parts lists, support contact information, general troubleshooting guides, and how-tos.
🔒 Internal⚓︎
Authenticated employees of your organization see the full picture from inside your KNOWRON instance. This content is never reachable through anonymous Passport access.
Best for: R&D notes, internal service bulletins, in depth troubleshooting, maintenance logs, and field knowledge from experienced colleagues.
The Passport assistant⚓︎
The Passport assistant answers from every eligible content type you expose, filtered by visibility: Documents, Articles, Tutorials, and Expert Answers. Content that is not eligible for the Passport context (Internal) is never returned and never appears in the sources.
Assistant usage draws on a credit allowance.