By Shahrooz Kohan, CEO of AIMS360 · Updated August 2026
Extensiv, formerly 3PL Central, builds warehouse and order management software whose primary market is third-party logistics providers. AIMS360 is an apparel ERP that includes a full WMS, built for consumer brands, including brands that run their own warehouse. These are different layers of the stack and they are frequently confused, so this page sets out exactly what each one covers, where the overlap actually is, and how the two work together.
They are not really competitors, and the comparison people usually mean is narrower than it looks. Extensiv sells warehouse management, order management and integration tooling, and its core product, 3PL Warehouse Manager, is built for third-party logistics providers running multi-client warehouses. AIMS360 is an apparel ERP: style-color-size product master, production and costing, the wholesale order book, retailer EDI, accounting, and a full WMS in the same system.
If you are a brand that runs its own warehouse, AIMS360 gives you ERP and WMS in one platform, so inventory, orders and accounting share one source of truth. If you are a 3PL, Extensiv is built for your business model and AIMS360 is not the right tool. If you are a brand that uses a 3PL running Extensiv, you do not have to choose at all.
AIMS360 already connects to third-party warehouses running Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager, formerly 3PL Central. If your 3PL uses Extensiv, that is a supported setup, not a conflict. See the 3PL integrations page for how the connection works.
Start here
Extensiv is warehouse software. AIMS360 is the system the whole business runs on, with warehouse software inside it. That single sentence resolves most of the confusion, but the audience difference matters just as much.
Extensiv, formerly 3PL Central, assembled its platform through acquisition: Traker Systems in 2016, which built the original 3PL Warehouse Manager, then Scout Software, Skubana and CartRover. The flagship product is designed for third-party logistics providers running multi-client warehouses, with billing, client portals and per-customer rate cards that a 3PL needs and a single brand does not.
AIMS360 is apparel ERP: one style-color-size product master feeding production, costing, the wholesale order book, retailer EDI, DTC channels, accounting and a full WMS with barcode scanning, plus RFID as an add-on. It is built for the brand, including brands that pick and ship from their own building.
The quick test. If you invoice other companies for storing and shipping their inventory, you need warehouse software built for 3PLs. If you design, make and sell your own product, you need apparel ERP, and the question is only whether the warehouse is yours or your 3PL's.
Credit where due
Extensiv is a strong product in its category and this page is not an argument that it is not. Within warehouse and fulfillment operations it covers a lot of ground.
If your problem statement is "I run a warehouse for other people" or "I need my carts and my 3PL to talk to each other", Extensiv is a reasonable answer and you should evaluate it on its merits.
The gap
A WMS moves and tracks the box. An apparel ERP runs the company that fills it. These are the functions apparel brands most often discover are not in scope once they try to run the business on fulfillment software alone.
Brands typically arrive at this the same way: fulfillment is working fine, and then a retailer asks for EDI, or margin by style stops being answerable, or the accountant asks why inventory in the WMS does not tie to the books.
Side by side
Read this as a scope map rather than a scorecard. Several rows are marked "not in scope" because the product is not trying to do that job.
| Extensiv | AIMS360 | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | WMS, order management and integration tooling | Apparel ERP with a full WMS included |
| Primary audience | Third-party logistics providers | Consumer brands, wholesale and DTC |
| Warehouse execution | Yes, strong, multi-client | Yes, barcode scanning, 99% accuracy in production, RFID add-on |
| Multi-client billing and rate cards | Yes, core to the product | Not in scope, AIMS360 is for the brand |
| Style, color, size product master | Not in scope | Yes, native |
| Production, BOM, cut tickets, landed cost | Not in scope | Yes |
| Wholesale order book and allocation | Not in scope | Yes |
| Retailer EDI and chargebacks | Integrations available | Native, 350+ retailers, no per-document fees |
| Accounting and general ledger | Not in scope | Yes, in the same system |
| ChatGPT app / Claude MCP | Not verified | Own MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and Grok, listed in the ChatGPT app store; answers questions and creates and updates orders and customers within each user's role (add-on) |
| Works with the other | Yes, via 3PLs running Extensiv | Yes, AIMS360 integrates with those 3PLs |
Sources: Extensiv product pages and newsroom, including the 3PL Central acquisitions of Traker Systems, Scout Software, Skubana and CartRover; the AIMS360 3PL integrations page and WMS feature page. "Not in scope" means the product is not designed for that job, not that it performs it poorly. "Not verified" means we could not confirm it from the vendor's own pages, not that the feature is missing.
Decide quickly
Keep it. Your 3PL's warehouse software is their operational choice, and AIMS360 already integrates with warehouses running Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager. AIMS360 becomes the brand system of record for product, orders, EDI and accounting, and orders and inventory flow to and from the 3PL. Nothing has to be ripped out.
This is where the real choice sits. Running a standalone WMS next to a separate ERP means two inventory positions, an integration to maintain and a reconciliation habit. AIMS360 gives you ERP and WMS in one platform, so the pick, the invoice and the general ledger all read from the same record.
You are a 3PL. Then AIMS360 is not the right product for you and we will say so on the call. You need multi-client billing, rate cards and customer portals, which is exactly what Extensiv is built for. We would rather you go to the right tool and stay a good integration partner for the brands we both serve.
One system
The argument for one platform is not tidiness, it is that inventory only has one true number. When the WMS and the ERP are separate products, that number exists in two places and the business spends real time reconciling them.
With AIMS360, the same record drives receiving, directed putaway, wave and batch picking, pack verification, cycle counting and barcode scanning, with RFID available as an add-on, and then drives the invoice, the retailer ASN, the chargeback investigation and the general ledger entry. One customer processed 1.2 million orders in a single day on it, and inventory accuracy runs at 99% in production. Full detail is on the WMS feature page.
That said, consolidation is not automatically right. If your warehouse operation is unusually complex, highly automated, or already running well on dedicated software your team knows, keeping a specialist WMS and integrating it is a defensible choice. The question to answer honestly is what the integration and the reconciliation actually cost you each month.
The 2026 difference
AIMS360 runs its own MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so ChatGPT, Claude and Grok all connect to live AIMS360 data, and AIMS360 is listed in the ChatGPT app store. A merchandiser or a finance lead can ask about open backlog, margin by style, inventory position or overdue invoices in plain English and get the real number back as a table, a chart or an Excel export, and the assistant can also create and update orders and customers. What each person can see or trigger is bounded by the AIMS360 role they already hold, so the assistant can't do anything that person couldn't do by signing in. AI automation is an add-on available on Bronze, Silver and Gold.
That matters more once the ERP holds the whole picture, because a question like "which styles are sitting in the warehouse against unshipped bookings" only has an answer if inventory, the order book and production live in the same system. Several apparel ERPs now offer AI connections too, including ApparelMagic, Sync, Fulfil and Ai2000, and NetSuite has an AI Connector, so ask each vendor what its AI connection can read and do.
Extensiv is warehouse software, so what you switch depends on who runs the warehouse: you, or your 3PL.
A named AIMS360 implementation manager maps your warehouses, which ones you run yourself and which a 3PL runs, plus your channels, retailers and accounting.
Bin locations, stock by bin and open pick work move into AIMS360's built-in warehouse management, which is included in the platform, with a handheld scanner included with each WMS user subscription.
If a 3PL runs your inventory on Extensiv, keep the 3PL. AIMS360 connects to it through its own 3PL integration, built in house and maintained and upgraded as part of your subscription.
Styles with color and size grids, customers, open orders and inventory by location convert into AIMS360, so orders, allocation and shipping run from one record.
Opening inventory by bin and location is counted and reconciled before cutover, so the first pick in AIMS360 goes to the right shelf.
The implementation manager who scoped the project stays on the account after go-live.
99% of AIMS360 clients are live within 90 days, and the project implementation success rate is 97.5%, from AIMS360's own implementation analysis. See how implementation works.
AIMS360 tracks fabric four levels deep: warehouse, bin location, dye lot and individual roll, with each roll's own yardage. When the bill of materials is issued to a cut ticket or production purchase order, you choose the exact roll and dye lot, and both print on the cut ticket next to the bin location. Extensiv tracks lots by bin like a good warehouse system should, but it's a WMS, so there are no cut tickets or fabric bills of materials for a roll to be issued to, and nothing documents rolls with their own yardage.
| Fabric control | AIMS360 | Extensiv |
|---|---|---|
| Dye lot tracking | Yes | Yes, lot, serial and expiration |
| Each roll tracked with its own number and yardage | Yes | Not publicly documented |
| Rolls stored by bin location | Yes | Yes |
| Pick the roll and dye lot when fabric is issued to cutting | Yes, printed on the cut ticket | No cut tickets or fabric bills of materials |
Two dye lots of the same color can be visibly different shades. Track the lot and the roll, and a shade complaint traces back to one roll months later, while the cutter pulls a named roll from a named shelf instead of the right color from somewhere in the building. Roll tracking is switched on per fabric color, so you can start with the fabrics where a shade break would cost you a shipment. Fabric sitting at a contractor shows in its own reference warehouse. How AIMS360 tracks fabric by roll.
Extensiv tracks lot, serial and expiration by location, but it doesn't document fabric rolls, and as a WMS it has no cut tickets or fabric bills of materials. AIMS360 tracks fabric by warehouse, bin, dye lot and individual roll, with each roll's own yardage, and the roll and dye lot chosen at cutting print on the cut ticket.
Extensiv column based on Extensiv's 3PL Warehouse Manager page and help center, checked in November 2026. Product capabilities change, so ask both vendors to show roll receiving and roll selection at cutting on your own fabric.
Every AIMS360 plan includes free, unlimited support, run in house by a US-based team that knows apparel and consumer brands. Emergency support runs 24/7 and averages under 15 minutes to respond. Regular support averages under 2 hours.
Implementation is led by AIMS360's own consumer-industry veterans, people who have spent careers inside apparel, footwear, beauty and other consumer brand operations. It's a one-time engagement itemized in your quote, so you don't need to hire an outside ERP implementation consultant, and your accountant and advisors stay in the room. Every new release is included in your plan. How AIMS360 implementation works.
Comparing with Extensiv? Ask for the same numbers in writing: support response times, what support costs after year one, and the implementation success rate.
Questions
Yes. AIMS360 integrates with third-party warehouses running Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager, formerly 3PL Central. If your 3PL uses Extensiv, that is a supported configuration. AIMS360 is the brand system of record for product, orders, retailer EDI and accounting, and order and inventory data flows to and from the warehouse. See the 3PL integrations page.
No. Extensiv is warehouse management, order management and integration software. It does not carry a style, color and size product master, production and bills of materials, the wholesale order book, retailer chargeback management or a general ledger. Those are apparel ERP functions. Brands often run an ERP alongside a WMS for exactly that reason.
AIMS360 includes a full WMS as part of the ERP, covering receiving, directed putaway, wave and batch picking, pack verification, cycle counting and barcode scanning, running at 99% inventory accuracy in production, with RFID available as an add-on. The difference from a standalone WMS is that it is the same system that holds the order book, the EDI connections and the accounting, so there is one inventory number rather than two.
Primarily third-party logistics providers. Its flagship product, 3PL Warehouse Manager, includes multi-client billing, rate cards and customer portals, which are the things a logistics provider needs to invoice the brands it serves. Extensiv also sells Warehouse Manager for brands operating their own facility and Order Manager for multichannel order management.
If the brand needs apparel ERP anyway, and most wholesale brands do, running AIMS360 with its built-in WMS avoids maintaining an integration and reconciling two inventory positions. If the warehouse operation is unusually complex or already running well on dedicated software the team knows, keeping a specialist WMS and integrating it is defensible. The honest question is what the integration and reconciliation cost each month.
Technically yes, but look closely at the overlap first. Order Manager and AIMS360 both aggregate multichannel orders and manage inventory, so running both means deciding which one is the source of truth. Most brands that adopt AIMS360 consolidate that layer rather than running two. Warehouse software at a 3PL is a different matter and normally stays exactly where it is.
Extensiv was 3PL Central until it rebranded. The platform was assembled through acquisitions: Traker Systems in 2016, which developed the original 3PL Warehouse Manager, then Scout Software, Skubana, which became Order Manager, and CIO Technologies with its CartRover product in December 2021, which became Integration Manager.
Yes, and it is a common setup. AIMS360 has live integrations with eighteen third-party logistics providers including Bergen Logistics, NRI, ShipMonk, Boxzooka and warehouses running Extensiv, and connects to essentially any warehouse that can exchange EDI, expose an API or drop a scheduled file. Details are on the 3PL integrations page.
AIMS360 runs its own MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so ChatGPT, Claude and Grok all connect to live AIMS360 data, and AIMS360 is listed in the ChatGPT app store. An assistant can answer plain-English questions on live orders, inventory, invoices, sales and margin, and it can create and update orders and customers. What each person can see or trigger is bounded by the AIMS360 role they already hold. AI automation is an add-on available on Bronze, Silver and Gold. Several apparel ERPs now offer AI connections too, including ApparelMagic, Sync, Fulfil and Ai2000, and NetSuite has an AI Connector, so ask each vendor what its AI connection can read and do. Details are on the AI ERP page.
Keep researching
Tell us whether you ship from your own building or a 3PL, and a specialist will show the matching AIMS360 configuration. If a standalone WMS is genuinely the better answer for you, we will tell you that too.
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