Fashion PLM Integrations · Updated September 2026
PLM integration for apparel ERP: Centric, WFX and BeProduct into AIMS360
Design and development happen in your PLM. Buying, production, inventory, EDI and invoicing happen in AIMS360. The integration is the handoff between the two. When a style is approved in the PLM, the style, its colorways, sizes, bill of materials, costing and supplier records are created in AIMS360, so nobody re-keys a season.
AIMS360 connects to three fashion PLM systems: Centric PLM, WFX and BeProduct. The PLM stays the system of record for design and development. AIMS360 becomes the system of record from the approved style onward. On Centric the sync fires automatically when a style is approved, and AIMS360 sends material inventory back to Centric. On WFX your team runs the AIMS360 importer, and data moves one way, from WFX into AIMS360. Brands without a PLM run styles, colors, sizes, BOMs and costing natively in AIMS360.
Which PLM systems integrate with AIMS360?
Three, and they connect differently. The direction of the data and the thing that triggers it are what a buyer actually needs to know, so both are in the table.
| PLM | How it connects | Direction | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centric PLM | Custom integration built and supported by AIMS360. Centric Software is a Dassault Systèmes subsidiary and reports more than 2,900 customers in over 65 countries (its figure, June 2026). | Two-way. Style, colorways, sizes, BOM, materials, costing, suppliers and images come in. Material inventory goes back. | Automatic. The style approval in Centric fires the sync. |
| WFX | AIMS360 importer screens for vendors, materials, styles, bill of materials and costing, with an Automap step for records that already exist in AIMS360. | One-way, WFX into AIMS360. Nothing is sent back to WFX. | Your team runs the import once a style is production ready. |
| BeProduct | Connector for styles, bills of materials and costing from BeProduct's PLM and digital asset platform. | BeProduct into AIMS360. | Scope and trigger are confirmed with your implementation manager. |
Another PLM in place? The AIMS360 Open API exposes the same style, material and vendor records the three connectors above write to, so a further integration is a scoping conversation rather than a no.
What moves from PLM into the ERP when a style is approved?
The list below is what the integration creates in AIMS360. Everything on it has its own record in the ERP, which is why a PO to the factory or a wholesale order can be raised the same day the style is approved.
| Object | What arrives in AIMS360 | Centric PLM | WFX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Style header | Style number, style name, division, body and season, mapped to AIMS360 codes | Yes | Yes |
| Colorways | Each colorway becomes a color on the style, using your AIMS360 color codes | Yes | Yes |
| Size range | The style is attached to an AIMS360 size scale so it can be sold and stocked by size | Yes | Confirm at scoping |
| Bill of materials | BOM lines for fabric, trim and components, each pointing at an AIMS360 material record | Yes | Yes |
| Materials | Fabric and trim records, so raw material purchasing and inventory work against the same items the PLM specified | Yes | Yes |
| Costing | Cost sheet values land on the AIMS360 style for landed cost and margin | Yes | Yes |
| Suppliers | Factory and material vendors created as AIMS360 vendors | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Style images attached to the AIMS360 style record | Yes | Not documented |
| Material inventory, back to PLM | On-hand fabric and trim quantities from AIMS360, visible to developers inside the PLM | Yes | No, one-way |
Tech packs travel as files. They are authored in the PLM and stored in AIMS360 against the style, the order or the cut ticket. AIMS360 generates a spec sheet from the style record, with measurements, BOM, construction and images, and the spec sheet travels with the purchase order and the cut ticket.
PLM vs ERP for a fashion brand: who owns what?
The two get confused because both hold a style. The difference is which version of the style. The PLM holds the style while it is still changing. The ERP holds the style once it is a sellable, purchasable, countable thing.
The PLM owns the style before approval
- Sketches, CADs, 3D and line plans
- Tech packs, measurement specs and construction
- Sample rounds, fit comments and approvals
- Supplier collaboration on materials and costing
- Colorway and material libraries
AIMS360 owns the style after approval
- The style as a style, color, size matrix with inventory
- Purchase orders to factories and material vendors
- Production tracking and work in progress
- Raw material and finished goods inventory
- Wholesale, EDI, DTC and marketplace orders, invoicing and accounting
The integration is the line between those two columns. Approval is the moment a style stops being a development project and becomes a product, so that is the moment the ERP needs it. Pushing styles earlier fills the ERP with things that never get made. Pushing them later means someone re-keys the BOM the week the PO is due.
How does the PLM to ERP handoff actually work?
Six steps, the same shape on every PLM. The first one is where most of the work is.
| Step | What happens | Centric PLM | WFX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Agree the mapping | Divisions, body codes, size scales, color codes, material codes and vendor codes are mapped between PLM and AIMS360 once. AIMS360 code fields have length rules and do not accept special characters, so PLM naming conventions are checked against them here. | Done with AIMS360 during setup | Done with AIMS360 during setup |
| 2. Approve the style | The style reaches its production-ready status in the PLM. | The approval fires the sync automatically | A user runs the AIMS360 importer |
| 3. Style created in AIMS360 | Style header, colorways, sizes, BOM, materials, costing, suppliers and images arrive as AIMS360 records. | All of the above | Vendors, materials, styles, BOM, costing |
| 4. Buy and make | Vendor POs go to the factory from the AIMS360 style and BOM. Production tracking follows the cut ticket. Raw materials are received against the material records the PLM sent. | In AIMS360 | In AIMS360 |
| 5. Material inventory back | On-hand fabric and trim quantities are sent back so developers see what is actually available before they spec the next style around it. | Yes, AIMS360 to Centric | Not available |
| 6. Sell from one stock record | Wholesale, EDI, DTC and marketplace orders all draw on the finished goods the approved style became. | In AIMS360 | In AIMS360 |
Already running AIMS360 and adding a PLM? Existing styles, materials, colors and vendors can be exported from AIMS360 and loaded into the PLM, then matched during the first import with the Automap step so you do not end up with duplicates. That is the documented path for WFX. On a Centric setup the matching of existing records is part of the mapping work in step 1.
Can you run AIMS360 without a PLM?
Yes, and most brands under a certain size do. AIMS360 carries the product development records that a small team needs, and the PLM becomes worth it when design headcount, sample rounds and supplier collaboration outgrow them.
Native in AIMS360
Styles and colors, draft styles and samples, the size matrix, the bill of materials, raw material and trim inventory, costing, vendor management, production tracking and a spec sheet generated from the style. The full list is on the production and PLM features page.
Where a PLM earns its keep
Several designers working the same line at once. Tech packs with version history a factory can be held to. Sample and fit rounds with comments. Line planning and calendars. Supplier portals. If those are the daily problems, connect a PLM and let AIMS360 take the style at approval.
For the longer version of that decision, including what to look for in an apparel PLM, see apparel PLM software and material tracking for apparel brands.
PLM integration details to plan for
Stated plainly, because these are the questions that surface in month two.
| Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
| Design and tech packs live in the PLM | Sketching, 3D rendering and tech pack authoring run in the connected PLM. The finished tech pack is stored in AIMS360 against the style, the order or the cut ticket. |
| Orders do not go to the PLM | Sales orders, purchase orders, shipments and invoices live in AIMS360 and are not sent to any PLM. The only data that travels back today is material inventory, and only on Centric PLM. |
| WFX is one-way | Nothing is sent from AIMS360 to WFX. Existing AIMS360 data is exported and loaded into WFX by WFX support, then matched with Automap on the first import. |
| AIMS360 codes have rules | Style numbers 3 to 15 characters with the hyphen the only special character allowed. Color codes 2 to 5, material codes 2 to 6, vendor codes 5, all alphanumeric. PLM data outside those rules is fixed in the mapping, not on the fly. |
| Revisions after approval | The sync is built around the approval event. How a style changed after approval is handled is agreed at scoping, because some brands want every revision re-pushed and some want a locked style. |
| Not self-serve | Every PLM connection is scoped and configured with the AIMS360 team. There is no marketplace toggle. |
PLM integration questions, answered
Which PLM systems integrate with AIMS360?
Three: Centric PLM, WFX and BeProduct. Centric PLM is a custom two-way integration built by AIMS360 that fires automatically when a style is approved in Centric and sends material inventory back. WFX is a one-way import from WFX into AIMS360 using the AIMS360 importer screens for vendors, materials, styles, bill of materials and costing. BeProduct connects styles, bills of materials and costing. Other PLMs can be connected through the AIMS360 Open API as a scoped project.
What is the difference between PLM and ERP for a fashion brand?
A PLM holds the style while it is still changing: sketches, tech packs, sample rounds, fit comments, supplier collaboration and approvals. An ERP holds the style once it is a product: the style, color and size matrix with inventory, purchase orders to factories, production tracking, raw material and finished goods stock, wholesale, EDI and DTC orders, invoicing and accounting. The approval of a style is the line between the two, and that is the event the AIMS360 integration is built around. The apparel ERP guide covers the ERP side in full.
Does AIMS360 have its own PLM?
AIMS360 carries the product development records a small team needs without a separate PLM: styles and colors, draft styles and samples, size scales, bills of materials, raw material and trim inventory, costing, vendor management, production tracking and a spec sheet generated from the style record. Design, 3D rendering, tech pack authoring and fit rounds run in a connected PLM such as Centric PLM, WFX or BeProduct, and the approved style flows into AIMS360 from there. The native records are listed on the production and PLM features page.
How does the Centric PLM integration with AIMS360 work?
It is a custom integration built and supported by AIMS360. When a style is approved in Centric PLM, the sync fires automatically and creates the style header, colorways, size range, bill of materials, materials, costing, supplier records and images in AIMS360. AIMS360 then sends material inventory back to Centric so developers see on-hand fabric and trim quantities inside the PLM. It is live with AIMS360 customers in production. The full mechanics are on the Centric PLM integration page.
How does the WFX integration with AIMS360 work?
WFX data comes into AIMS360 through importer screens for vendors, materials, styles, bill of materials and costing. A user runs the import once a style is production ready. The integration is one-way, from WFX into AIMS360, and nothing is sent back to WFX. Divisions, body codes and material codes are mapped once during setup, and an Automap step matches WFX records to styles, materials and vendors that already exist in AIMS360. See the WFX integration page and the WFX integration overview.
Is the PLM integration two-way?
On Centric PLM, yes, for one object: AIMS360 sends material inventory back to Centric. Everything else, including styles, colorways, BOMs, costing and suppliers, flows from Centric into AIMS360. Sales orders, purchase orders, shipments and invoices stay in AIMS360 and are not sent to any PLM. The WFX integration is one-way, into AIMS360 only.
What data moves from the PLM to AIMS360 when a style is approved?
On Centric PLM: the style header with style number, name, division, body and season; each colorway as a color on the style; the size range attached to an AIMS360 size scale; bill of materials lines pointing at AIMS360 material records; the material records themselves; cost sheet values; factory and material suppliers as AIMS360 vendors; and style images. On WFX: vendors, materials, styles with their colors, bill of materials and costing.
Do I need a PLM to use AIMS360?
No. Many AIMS360 brands run product development inside the ERP using its native style, color, size, BOM, material and costing records. A PLM becomes worth adding when several designers work the same line at once, tech packs need version history a factory can be held to, sample and fit rounds need comments, or suppliers need a portal. At that point the PLM takes development and AIMS360 takes the style from approval onward. The longer version of that decision is in apparel PLM software and material tracking.
How are tech packs handled with AIMS360?
Tech packs are authored in the PLM or by the design team and stored in AIMS360 as files against the style, order or cut ticket. AIMS360 generates a spec sheet from the style record, covering measurements, bill of materials, construction and images, which is the document that travels with the purchase order and cut ticket.
What happens if a style changes in the PLM after it has been approved?
The integration is built around the approval event, so how revisions after approval are handled is agreed during scoping rather than assumed. Some brands want every post-approval change re-pushed into AIMS360, others want the ERP style locked once purchase orders exist. Raise it before go-live so the behavior matches how your production team works. How implementation is run covers where that conversation happens.
Can I connect a PLM if I already have styles, materials and vendors in AIMS360?
Yes. Existing color codes, materials, styles and vendors are exported from AIMS360 and loaded into the PLM so they do not have to be recreated. On the first import into AIMS360 the Automap step matches the incoming PLM records to the AIMS360 records that already exist, which is what prevents duplicates. That is the documented path for WFX, and matching existing records is part of the mapping work on a Centric setup.
What are the AIMS360 code rules a PLM feed has to respect?
Style numbers are 3 to 15 characters, alphanumeric, with the hyphen the only special character allowed, and style names up to 50 characters. Color codes are 2 to 5 characters with names up to 20. Material codes are 2 to 6 characters with names up to 40. Vendor codes are 5 characters with names and address lines up to 40. No other special characters are accepted in code fields, so PLM naming conventions are checked against these during the mapping step. The styles and colors page shows how those codes are used once the style is in.
Bring us one approved style
The fastest way to judge a PLM integration is to watch one of your own styles cross the line: approved in the PLM, then opened in AIMS360 with its colorways, sizes, BOM and cost sheet already there. Bring a style and we will run it.
Related AIMS360 pages
- Centric PLM integration is the deep page: what fires the sync, every object that arrives, and the material inventory that goes back.
- WFX integration covers the importer screens and the Automap step.
- Production and PLM features lists what AIMS360 handles natively without a PLM.
- Bill of materials and raw material and trim inventory are where the PLM's BOM lands.
- Vendor purchase orders is what an approved style turns into next.
- Most popular apparel software integrations shows where PLM sits alongside Shopify, QuickBooks and EDI.
Written by the AIMS360 team. Reviewed 11 September 2026. Integration scope reflects the AIMS360 connectors as of that date. Centric Software company facts are from centricsoftware.com and the Dassault Systèmes press release of 10 June 2026, and are their figures, not independently verified.
