Digital Traceability Event (DTE)
A DTE records a supply chain event — something that happened to a product, at a facility, involving specific parties. DTEs are the connective tissue of your supply chain graph.
DTE issuance through the DPP Kit UI is under active development. This page describes the planned functionality.
Event Subtypes
DTEs cover three categories of supply chain events:
Transformation Events
Raw materials or components are transformed into new products.
- Example: Cotton bales transformed into fabric rolls
- References: Source DPPs (inputs) and output DPPs (results)
Transaction Events
Products change hands between parties.
- Example: Fabric rolls shipped from manufacturer to distributor
- References: Source party DFR, destination party DFR, and the DPPs being transferred
Association Events
Products are grouped, bundled, or linked together.
- Example: Individual items packed into a shipping container
- References: The container DPP and individual item DPPs
Why DTEs Matter
DTEs are critical for building a complete supply chain graph. Without them, you have isolated product passports and facility records with no connections between them.
Reverse Lookup
DTEs reference DPPs and DFRs, but never the reverse (this is a UNTP design choice). To answer "what events involved this product?", DPP Kit supports reverse lookup via the referenced_identifiers field — an indexed array of all identifiers a DTE mentions.
Supply chain graphs are only as complete as their DTE coverage. If a transformation or transaction isn't recorded as a DTE, that link in the chain is invisible. Collect DTEs rigorously — both internal events and events from external partners.
Identifiers
DTEs use GTIN-14 identifiers, following the same scheme as DPPs. The identifier represents the event itself, not the products involved (those are referenced by their own identifiers).