Product Compliance & Sustainability Trend Study 2026

Methodology summary

This study surveyed 131 specialists and managers across the automotive, electronics, and manufacturing sectors in partnership with Pforzheim University. The surveys were complemented by seven in-depth interviews with experts from a range of industries.

What This Research Brings to the Manufacturing Industry

Expectations from customers and regulators are rising, influenced by economic pressures, changing regulatory dynamics, and global disruptions like trade restrictions, which are outside their control. This report provides benchmarking data and insights to support companies in making strategic decisions on where to prioritize their time, money, and resources to best support the reduction of risk in their business.

Data Collection Methodology

The study pairs two complementary data collection methodologies designed to deliver robust insights that accurately reflect the reality of participants. A standardized online survey was delivered to 131 industry specialists, asking 25 questions that offer breadth to the research. A series of seven qualitative expert interviews were conducted to deliver depth to the overall data set.

Current Tools Won’t Support Companies at Scale

The prevalent use of manual systems to manage product compliance, combined with the reported lack of process efficiency, indicates that many companies are at an impasse. They’re aware the processes they use are resource-heavy, with nearly 70% of respondents spending up to two hours daily on manual work, and that their supply chains are inherently complex. But the effort and time spent on manual product compliance management takes away from their ability to implement more effective technology-based solutions.

Anecdotal evidence from the interviews further supports this conclusion:

“If we digitize, [we should be sure it will] not require more effort than previously.”

Companies Aren’t Leveraging the Risk Reduction Advantage Their Programs Could Provide

Product compliance and sustainability programs built on product intelligence help companies strategically reduce their risk through less supply chain disruption, stronger relationships with their customers, and insights that support proactive decision-making throughout their organization. Report findings indicate that this potential advantage is largely underutilized, with only 15% of respondents claiming to use their program for an active competitive advantage. The majority of companies are stuck in a reactive loop, using their programs to respond to legal concerns and daily program management, with much of that time dedicated to manual work.

Of the industries participating in the study, automotive demonstrates the most distinct strategic profile influenced by customers and market dynamics.

Evidence Is Critical to Supporting Material Product Compliance Efforts

Survey respondents place a high degree of importance on material product compliance, sustainability, and the need to incorporate these insights into their organizational processes and culture. This indicates a growing priority for organizational alignment on the way supply chain data is managed and leveraged to demonstrate product compliance. With sustainability requirements increasing for emerging topics like Digital Product Passports (DPP), companies will need to be prepared to show evidence of their product compliance efforts on demand in 2026 and beyond.

Companies Prioritize Investments in Technology & Data

Investment priority is concentrated in technology and software, a sentiment backed by 43% of respondents, with data integration following closely behind. These results indicate companies are seeking to address their product compliance and sustainability requirements by using software to gain efficiencies and, in the case of 22% of respondents, by also placing additional investment priority on expertise.

Companies are aware that investment in software and expert guidance will be needed to keep pace with requirements from regulators and customers. And furthermore, they know the value that an integrated approach provides:

“Concerning sustainability, this also illustrates a more integrated approach with daily operations, such as ensuring that we possess life cycle assessment data when engaging in tenders and public procurement processes. This is certainly an aspect that we are monitoring closely and actively pursuing.”

The Tech Paradox

Our research concludes that the majority of companies continue to rely on manual processes while acknowledging the value of technology investment, and yet only 21% of respondents cite operational limitations with their current approaches.

Read together, these findings point to an opportunity for companies to lean into technological advancement for their operations to help their business scale. They will require internal support (from leadership and other key stakeholders) to increase their data quality and help reserve resource capacity to support implementation.

Companies Know Technology & Expertise Are Critical for Scaling

The report finds 75% of respondents work very closely with product compliance and sustainability, and 43% of respondents would place technology at the top of their investment priorities. These two findings on the surface indicate a clear correlation between engagement with sustainability efforts and willingness to invest in software.

However, increased manual product compliance effort due to poor data quality and limited human resources to support programs can severely limit the time available to implement solutions that offer proactive risk mitigation. Companies may know technology and expertise are critical to scale, but not be in a position to move forward.

Assent’s automated network helps you scale your compliance without increasing costs or headcount.

See How

The Interface Black Box: Poor Supplier Data Delivery

Respondents were asked why supplier data delivery falls short, and the answers show that suppliers are fighting an uphill battle to respond with the data their customers need.

The most-often cited reasons for poor data delivery are incompleteness and delays, followed by limited visibility into how data is produced. Our interview data indicates that suppliers sometimes hold back details to protect proprietary information, which is a commercial judgment that can damage customer trust. However, companies have more control over the next two reasons. Nearly half report that data requirements are unclear to suppliers, and two in five respondents point to the absence of automated processes for submitting responses.

Read together, these reasons describe a request process suppliers find difficult to navigate. Response quality improves when a request specifies which parts, substances, and reporting boundaries a declaration must cover, and when suppliers can submit once rather than repeatedly in different formats. Companies that receive incomplete data should ensure the requests they send are clear and complete.

The Compound Effect Is Unavoidable

Product compliance and sustainability requirements are converging, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) demonstrates what that looks like in practice. Importers of covered goods must report embedded emissions, have those figures verified, and accept financial liability for inaccuracies. That data comes from the same suppliers already providing material declarations, so one supplier response now carries both a product compliance obligation and a carbon obligation.

Exploring AI Utilization

Our data indicates that the manufacturing market’s AI adoption is still at a low maturity level, scoring 2.14 out of 4 points, with larger companies exhibiting a more intensive use of AI. When it comes to perceiving product intelligence as a strategic opportunity, AI users report it approximately five times more frequently than non-users. The current use and adoption of AI serves as a preliminary indicator of future preparedness for product intelligence.

“AI is neither Copilot nor ChatGPT. It must be integrated within the systems. Without it, the potential is squandered.”

Product intelligence benefits businesses most when product compliance and sustainability, program digitalization, and process improvements are managed together in one centralized platform. Where product compliance and sustainability remain separate functions, neither team sees the full picture, and product stewardship gets treated as a technical requirement to satisfy rather than a source of business insight.

“Artificial intelligence significantly aids in the management of vast quantities of data. We are currently implementing this technology and utilizing AI extensively. And that holds tremendous potential.