Sustainability in Technical Documentation and Aftersales & Service: Experts Have Their Say on the New EU Requirements
The EU is compelling companies to become more sustainable, but how can manufacturers successfully meet with these requirements? And to what extent do they affect technical documentation and aftersales & service? Lissa Sum, Stefan Gruber-Barowitsch, and Carsten Neugrodda explored these questions in a Quanos webinar (only available in German). Read on for a summary of what they had to say.
The Supply Chain Act, the right to repair, and the digital product passport – the European Union is aiming to make the economy more sustainable with a raft of legislation. During the webinar “Successfully Shaping Sustainability – Practical Tips for a Future-Proof Industry”, three experts led by moderator Robert Hacker, Vice President Marketing at Quanos, discussed the impact on companies and specifically on the areas of technical documentation and aftersales & service. Find out what is set to change and what Lissa Sum, Sustainability Manager and Senior Consultant at 4L Impact Strategies, Congram Managing Director Stefan Gruber-Barowitsch, and Carsten Neugrodda, CEO of the service association KVD, make of the new requirements.
The Supply Chain Act: greater awareness of human rights violations
The Supply Chain Act has been in force in Germany since the beginning of 2024 for companies with at least 1,000 employees. The law makes it mandatory for them to ensure that human rights are upheld and environmental protection standards are complied with along their entire supply chains. For its part, the European Union has adopted a supply chain directive that member states must implement by 2026.
“You have to approach the law with low expectations,” says Lissa Sum. Depending on the company, it can take years to examine supply chains right down to their starting point. She recommends drawing up a “Supplier Code of Conduct”, while supplier audits are also possible. Establishing transparency is “time-consuming, but essential” in order to become aware of human rights violations and environmental destruction worldwide, and to use this knowledge to reconfigure supply chains. “Such laws are designed to shake things up for us,” explains Carsten Neugrodda.
The right to repair: technical documentation is expanding to include repair instructions
It is intended that appliance repairs will become cheaper and easier in the future, which is the objective of an EU-wide directive that has yet to be transposed into national law. The aim is for products to be used for longer, leading a fall in the number of new purchases – and with it the volume of electronic waste. Manufacturers will be required to repair certain appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, and smartphones even after the statutory warranty has expired. During the warranty period, there will be an incentive to opt for a repair instead of a new replacement appliance. An online platform will help consumers find local repair outlets, sellers of refurbished appliances, and even repair cafés.
For technical documentation teams, the right to repair will bring with it an obligation to provide consumers with repair information in future. However, when compared to service technicians, this target group is largely an unknown quantity in terms of technical understanding and level of education, explains Stefan Gruber-Barowitsch: “It’s not simply that I need to write repair instructions in technical documentation, which may not have been necessary in the past because the service department didn't require this; there’s also an increasing need to provide spare parts information and details about equipment and tools. The topic of warnings and safety instructions is becoming more important because the target group is becoming less well known.” With the right to repair, technical writers are faced with additional tasks.
The digital product passport: all the information in one place
The digital product passport, which is becoming mandatory throughout the EU, is a form of passport containing all the relevant information about a product. It includes data on the raw materials used in production, information about spare parts, repair options, and details about disposal. The digital product passport is set to become mandatory for batteries from 2027, with other product categories to follow. It will provide consumers with greater transparency in future, allowing them to make their purchasing decisions more easily based on sustainability criteria.
Carsten Neugrodda believes that the digital product passport will also bring a decisive advantage for service technicians, as it will provide useful details in addition to the technical documentation and spare parts information: “The two can be combined, which is sure to help service teams.”
CSRD reporting: gain an advantage over the competition with sustainability reports
The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires more companies than ever before to establish transparency regarding the impact of their activities on humankind and the environment. Large companies are particularly affected. To achieve this target, the European Union has set threshold values for the balance sheet total, net sales, and number of employees above which the requirements apply. SMEs listed on the stock exchange will also be affected and the reporting obligation will be gradually extended. In terms of scope, the reports are required to cover the environment, social affairs, and human rights, as well as governance (i.e., sustainable corporate management).
A great deal of effort then, but does it add up to more than just bureaucracy? Lissa Sum thinks it does and points to the idea behind the requirement: “The European Union has a major interest in making sure that the economy is sustainable and fit for the future; it wants a booming economy.” This reporting requirement does mean a lot of work – in particular at the beginning – but it will help companies to make headway. Carsten Neugrodda also wants sustainability to be seen as an opportunity and a competitive advantage.
The EU directive on sustainability reporting requires that data be provided in digital form; a uniform standard based on XML and known as XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is currently being developed for this purpose. Companies with a technical writing department that already works with an XML-based component content management system would therefore have “a lever to introduce and implement this standard, which would enable them to report automatically,” says Stefan Gruber-Barowitsch.
Conclusion: Be prepared and view sustainability as an opportunity!
When the legal framework changes, this always brings with it new tasks and challenges for companies. During the Quanos webinar, the experts asked that sustainability be seen not as an irritation, but as an opportunity for growth.
At the same time, digitalization is progressing at pace. Companies that are already well positioned here and have taken steps such as implementing an XML-based component content management system in their technical writing department or integrating all service-relevant information into one system are at an advantage, because they can meet the new requirements more readily.