PLM, Software

Why Data Transparency Is the Key to Sustainable Product Design

In today’s business landscape, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a strategic imperative. Companies face growing pressure from consumers, regulators, and investors to ensure products are environmentally and socially responsible. In fact, studies show that more than 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage, meaning early decisions on materials and components largely dictate how “green” a product will be. At the same time, 84% of customers say they will abandon brands with poor environmental practices. These realities underscore why data transparency is essential: organizations need clear, accessible data about every part and material in their products to design sustainably from the ground up.

High-quality data on components – from carbon footprint to compliance status – enables design teams to make sustainable choices from the start.

Why Sustainable Design Has Become a Business Priority

A few years ago, sustainability was often seen as a “nice to have.” Today, it’s non-negotiable.

Governments around the world are introducing stricter regulations, pushing companies to take responsibility not just for their own operations, but for their entire supply chain. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), for example, will require large companies to disclose detailed environmental and social impacts starting in 2025 – including Scope 3 carbon emissions, which cover supplier and product-level emissions. Failing to comply could cost up to €10 million or 5% of annual revenue.

Meanwhile, in the US, California’s SB-253 is forcing companies doing business in the state to report their full emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) by 2026, with fines up to $500,000 per year for non-reporting.

So what does this mean for product development teams? You can’t just think about performance, cost, or availability anymore. Now you also have to consider:

  • Whether your parts are compliant with global regulations (RoHS, REACH, PFAS, SCIP, etc.)

  • If your suppliers meet ESG standards, including ethical labour and responsible sourcing

  • The environmental impact of your product, down to the component level

And it’s not just about ticking boxes. Customers are increasingly eco-conscious, and they’re actively looking for brands that walk the talk. Sustainable design is now tied directly to brand trust, legal compliance, and market access. In short, it’s a business imperative.

Why Data Transparency is the Foundation of Sustainable Design

Sustainability starts with visibility. Without clear data, it’s almost impossible to know whether your design choices are helping or hurting your ESG goals. When you bring transparency into your design process, you give your teams the tools to make real progress.

🔍 Identify Environmental Hotspots in Your Design

Let’s say your Bill of Materials (BOM) has 300 components. Which ones are the most harmful from a carbon or recyclability standpoint? Without data, you’re flying blind. With transparent data, you can see exactly which parts contribute the most to CO₂ emissions or contain non-recyclable materials, and then target those for replacement or redesign.

This makes it possible to carry out life cycle assessments (LCA) early in the process, helping teams reduce energy use, emissions, and waste from the start. Even swapping out just 5–10 key components can significantly reduce your product’s overall impact.

✅ Design for Compliance, Right from the Start

In a traditional setup, compliance checks often happen late in development. That’s risky. If you discover a critical part contains a restricted substance at the final stages, you’re looking at delays, redesigns, or worse, regulatory fines.

With real-time data, you get instant visibility into the compliance status of every part. Your team will know right away if something violates RoHS, REACH, or any other major regulation, and can act before it becomes a problem.

Instead of scrambling at the eleventh hour, compliance becomes part of your standard design flow.

🌍 Support Broader ESG Goals

Sustainability isn’t just about the environment, it’s also about social responsibility. That means understanding where your components come from and how they’re made.

Transparent data helps your team track whether parts are free of conflict minerals like tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold sourced from high-risk areas. It also ensures that your suppliers meet standards for labour practices, anti-slavery laws, and anti-corruption policies.

With all this information in one place, including supplier ESG declarations, you can back up your ethical commitments with real evidence.

🔄 Enable Circular Design and Product Longevity

Designing for circularity means thinking beyond the first lifecycle of your product. Can it be repaired? Can its parts be reused or recycled? Will it need to be redesigned because a key component becomes obsolete?

With Highstage + SiliconExpert, you’ll know which components are nearing end-of-life, which ones are sole-sourced, and which materials are difficult to reclaim. That lets you make better design choices that extend product lifespans and reduce waste – all while ensuring long-term supply chain resilience.

From Data to Action: Integrating Compliance and Sustainability in PLM

The good news? You don’t need to overhaul your entire development process to get these benefits. You just need the right data, in the right place, at the right time.

Highstage is built for fast-moving, regulated industries like MedTech, electronics, and defence – where traceability is essential, and compliance isn’t optional. By integrating with SiliconExpert’s database of over a billion parts, we bring real-time sustainability and compliance data directly into your PLM environment.

Here’s what that unlocks:

⚠️ Real-Time Compliance Checks

As your engineers build a BOM or evaluate parts, the system flags high-risk or non-compliant components immediately – saving you from late-stage issues. The built-in Compliance Risk Score makes it easy to assess risk across different regulations, and the system can even suggest compliant alternatives.

📊 Instant ESG & Supplier Insights

Need to generate a report for your board or an audit? Highstage’s platform centralises all ESG data, including conflict minerals, supplier ethics declarations, and labour policies. That means less manual work, and more confidence in your reporting.

♻️ Carbon Footprint Built Into the BOM

SiliconExpert’s CO₂e data tells you exactly how much carbon each part contributes. When combined with Highstage, you can instantly calculate the total carbon footprint of a product design and adjust accordingly. No need for time-consuming manual LCAs.

🧾 Smoother Reporting and Audit Readiness

Because everything lives in one integrated system – product data, component specs, supplier documents, compliance status- creating reports or preparing for audits becomes a fast, stress-free process. No more chasing down spreadsheets or emailing five departments for updates.

Better Products. Greener Outcomes. Zero Guesswork.

When data transparency is built into your workflow, sustainability and speed no longer have to compete. Your team can move fast without sacrificing compliance, ethics, or long-term impact.

With Highstage + SiliconExpert, you’re not just avoiding risk, you’re building products that are smarter, cleaner, and ready for the demands of today’s markets and tomorrow’s regulations.

You free up your engineers to focus on innovation. You give compliance teams the tools they need to stay ahead. And you prove to customers and investors that your sustainability goals are more than words, they’re baked into how you work.

Ready to make sustainability a built-in part of your product strategy?
Connect with Highstage to see how integrated PLM and data transparency can help your organization meet ESG goals with sustainable designs and smarter products.
👉 Get in touch with our team