How Rip Curl Gains Visibility Across Its Global Supply Chain?

Creating a Single Source of Truth Across the Supply Chain

Before companies can improve planning or responsiveness, they first need access to shared and reliable information.

Procurement, sourcing, logistics, commercial teams, and suppliers all need to work from the same data to avoid misalignment and decisions based on outdated information.

At Rip Curl, purchasing commitments are initially created based on sales forecasts. As customer orders are confirmed, purchasing volumes are refined collaboratively with suppliers down to SKU level.

This provides all stakeholders with an up-to-date view of supply chain progress and creates greater alignment across the organization.

By sharing the same information throughout the process, Rip Curl reduces uncertainty and improves coordination between all parties involved.

Always Knowing the Best Possible Delivery Date

In a global supply chain, timelines constantly evolve.

Production delays, postponed quality inspections, or shipping disruptions can all affect expected delivery dates.

The challenge is therefore not simply tracking orders, but continuously maintaining the most accurate estimated arrival date possible.

Rip Curl made this visibility a central part of its supply chain operations. Logistics and commercial teams are continuously informed of supply chain progress and updated warehouse delivery forecasts.

This enables them to:

• plan logistics activities more effectively;
• allocate resources more accurately;
• reduce last-minute disruptions;
• provide customers with more reliable information;
• make faster decisions when issues arise.

In a context where lead times are constantly changing, access to accurate and timely information becomes a significant operational advantage.

Focusing Teams on What Requires Action

When thousands of orders are active simultaneously, manually monitoring every order becomes impossible.

Rather than asking teams to review each individual order, Rip Curl relies on an exception-based management approach.

A monitoring dashboard automatically highlights potential issues and alerts planners whenever intervention is required. Teams can therefore focus their attention on at-risk orders instead of spending time reviewing situations that are progressing normally.

This approach improves responsiveness while reducing low-value administrative work.

Benefits That Go Far Beyond Order Tracking

For Rip Curl, the outcomes extend well beyond greater visibility into supplier orders.

As the Operations Director for Rip Curl Europe explains:

“The e-SCM Supplier Portal improves supply reliability, delivers substantial productivity gains, enhances logistics and distribution planning capabilities, and enables us to provide a better service to our customers… It also contributes to raising the skill level of our planning teams.”

This feedback highlights an often-overlooked aspect of supply chain digitalization projects.

When teams spend less time searching for information, chasing suppliers, or updating spreadsheets, they can dedicate more time to analysis, anticipation, and decision-making.

Visibility becomes not only a driver of operational performance, but also a way to elevate the role of supply chain planners and enable them to focus on higher-value activities.

A More Visible Supply Chain Is a More Controllable Supply Chain

Production issues, delays, and unexpected events will always exist.

What makes the difference is a company's ability to identify them early enough to take action.

Rip Curl's experience demonstrates that greater visibility across supplier operations not only improves supply reliability but also strengthens planning, customer service, and team efficiency.

In a global supply chain, understanding what is happening across the network is often the first step toward gaining control.

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