FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-- Acuitive Solutions Relaunches Ensemble as the First Parcel Manifesting Platform Connected to PLM Rebuilt on API architecture, Ensemble pulls sample demand straight from the Project Lifecycle Management software (PLM) which is used by designers and product development teams. The data is translated into shipping requests to ensure all routing rules and needs are met. This gives brands control over the supplier samples their TMS was never built to manage.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., October 20, 2026 - Acuitive Solutions today relaunched Ensemble, its cloud-based samples management platform, rebuilt from the ground up on API driven architecture connecting directly to PLM systems. Ensemble is the first parcel manifesting platform to integrate with PLM, closing the gap between the design milestone that creates demand for a sample and the supplier shipment. Because every shipment starts from the PLM item record, Ensemble also handles HTS classification and builds the customs documentation.
Samples are a steady and mostly unmanaged slice of parcel spend. Thousands of them move each season from overseas suppliers to design and production teams, with most brands still leaving the routing decision to the supplier. The supplier selects a carrier and the service level often using the carrier's manifesting system. They then need to key in customs data by hand, and, when shipping for several brands at once, sometimes selects the wrong customers' account number for transportation and miscellaneous accessorials.
The updated Ensemble solution meets sample demand at the source. The need to rekey sample requests is eliminated by leveraging PLM. Each sample request originates in PLM at a design milestone and flows automatically into Ensemble, tied to its unique PLM transaction ID. The supplier prints a barcode hang tag for each item and manifests the package using scan to pack to capture contents, values, and customs detail in one pass. Carrier and service selection runs using the brand's own business rules with live multi-carrier rate shopping behind it. The shipping account numbers are governed centrally, so every shipment uses the right account number aligned with your terms regarding who pays for which types of shipments through the Samples process. From the moment the label prints, statuses flow back into PLM, where product teams already track their samples.
"Samples have always fallen between two groups, because the design team knows exactly what it needs while logistics owns how things ship, and the systems behind those two groups never talked to each other," said founder and CEO Phil Marlowe. "Connecting the manifest to the PLM means designers keep working where they already work, and the brand finally decides how every sample moves, and on whose account, before a supplier ever prints a label."
Brands running Ensemble see the difference. One global fashion brand cut inbound supplier sample shipping costs 30% across 82 origins to 88 destination countries after moving carrier selection out of its suppliers' hands. A luxury fashion house reduced preventable shipping delays by 97% by generating HTS classifications and customs documents from the item record instead of relying on supplier data entry. An American lifestyle and footwear brand cut up-front supplier data entry by roughly 90%, eliminated manual PLM entry entirely, replacing 10 to 20 minutes of supplier work per shipment with a single scan.
The rebuild also makes Ensemble easier to connect and faster to change. Its modular, API-
driven design links to the brand's existing PLM and ERP systems at the activity level. Since routing rules live in the cloud, a brand can change carriers or routing preferences across every country in an instant. Ensemble is available now.
About Acuitive Solutions
Acuitive Solutions is a Chattanooga-based logistics software company that helps organizations take control of the freight their TMS can't see. Its cloud platform digitizes and enforces the shipping decisions that happen outside the distribution center, cutting cost, protecting compliance, and giving logistics teams visibility across every business unit and geography. Learn more at acuitivesolutions.com.
