The Machine Has a Digital Life. Why Doesn’t the Attachment?

Connected Machines, Fragmented Histories

In July 2026, Metso reported more than 800 connected pieces of minerals-processing equipment in its data-driven performance services, more than double the number at launch in September 2025. At one South American customer site, Metso reported that the service captured 94% of identified risks during its first six months and helped avoid more than 215 hours of potential downtime.

The direction is clear: industrial equipment is generating more useful operational information. But more data does not automatically create better traceability.

A bucket, truck body, blade or other attachment may operate for thousands of hours, move between machines, undergo inspections and repairs, or even change sites and owners. Information about those events may exist across OEM records, dealer systems, maintenance software, PDFs, photographs and individual employees.

The Data Foundation Matters

BHP recently highlighted the same challenge at a much larger scale. The company has accumulated more than 140 years of geological, operational, maintenance and safety information, much of it collected across different systems, formats and standards. BHP’s point is significant: even advanced AI has limited impact when the underlying information remains fragmented.

For an individual physical asset, the question is therefore not only how much data exists? It is also does the right information remain connected to the right object over time?

Digital Product Passports Are Becoming Real Infrastructure

On July 20, 2026, the European Commission launched its Digital Product Passport Registry. Under the EU framework, Digital Product Passports are designed to connect products with structured information through unique identifiers and interoperable data systems.

This is moving beyond theory. From February 18, 2027, a battery passport is scheduled to become mandatory for relevant battery categories placed on the EU market. The European Commission also identifies iron and steel as priority product groups for Digital Product Passports, with an indicative Q4 2026 timeline for adoption of the relevant delegated act. The exact requirements and implementation timeline can still evolve.

Canada is exploring related concepts. In 2026, Natural Resources Canada consulted industry on a potential “Mined in Canada” digital credential for verifiable mineral origin. Feedback emphasized interoperability, data integrity, integration with existing platforms and low administrative burden as important conditions for adoption.

From Connected Machines to Connected Products

These initiatives are different in purpose and scope, but they point toward a common industrial direction: information is becoming more closely associated with the physical product itself.

For heavy equipment, that does not necessarily mean adding another sensor or replacing existing maintenance systems. Sometimes the more fundamental requirement is persistent identity — a reliable way to keep product information, inspections, field events, repairs and service history connected to the same physical asset throughout its working life.

Industrial digitalization has spent years making machines smarter. The next challenge may be simpler: making sure the history of the products attached to those machines does not disappear.