RTIC

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RTIC Keeps Custom Orders Moving at Speed Despite Fluctuating Demand

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RTIC is a consumer brand known for high-quality drinkware and coolers, with a growing custom business that serves both large B2B orders and individual consumers. As demand has expanded across both channels, RTIC now faces a more complex operational challenge: delivering high-volume and highly customized orders while maintaining speed and consistency.

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The custom shop handles orders ranging from a single case to more than 10,000 units, often with tight turnaround expectations. At the same time, RTIC continues to expand its capabilities, including the launch of MyRTIC, which enables one-off engraved products shipped directly to consumers.

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This combination of scale, customization, and variability requires an operation that can adjust quickly without slowing down.

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Demand That Changes Day to Day

RTIC’s demand does not follow a predictable pattern. Order size, timing, and volume vary significantly, especially across custom and seasonal demand.

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“within the custom shop, we have orders that range from a single case with drinkware up to ten thousand plus pieces. And so our demand and the timing of those orders isn't always super smooth.”

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Seasonality adds another layer. Demand builds through the fall, peaks during the holiday season, and then slows before ramping again.

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A fixed labor model makes this difficult to manage. Staffing for peak demand creates excess capacity during slower periods, while running too lean risks missed deadlines and bottlenecks.

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Speed as a Competitive Advantage

For RTIC, turnaround time is not just an operational metric. It is a key part of how the custom shop wins business and supports growth.

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“One of our key value propositions beyond our great pricing and and great quality is our quick turnaround time. We strive in our custom shop to maintain a seven to ten day turnaround time year round.... When I get on the phone with customers all the time, new customers they're okay so what's your turnaround time? Six, eight weeks? No. I got you in two weeks. And and that's really an important differentiator.”

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That expectation gap creates opportunity, but it also creates pressure. Delivering on shorter lead times requires RTIC to respond quickly as orders come in without slowing the rest of the operation. Large or unexpected orders cannot disrupt baseline production if RTIC is going to maintain the speed customers expect.

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Expanding Customization Without Slowing Production

The launch of MyRTIC introduced a new level of complexity. Unlike bulk customization, this offering required processing individual orders with rapid turnaround, often same day or next day.

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At launch, there was no existing team trained on the process. RTIC needed to stand up a new operation while maintaining its existing production output.

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“we had about five or six Veryable operators that came in and we were able to give them specific training on the task for that. And so they actually kinda learned the process as we were developing it.”

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This allowed RTIC to build capability around a new offering without pulling full-time employees away from core operations.

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Handling Incremental Workload Without Disruption

As order volume fluctuates, RTIC regularly encounters incremental workload that falls outside its standard processes. This includes large custom orders, special packaging requirements, and short-term production spikes.

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“This week, we had an order for the texans. It was our usual customized products plus some product that they sent us where we were having to put a football, a t shirt in each package, kind of make an assembly line, and we needed more bodies than we usually have. And so with me... I can schedule for that. We just brought in two or three more Veryable operators to help us out with that. And because of their help, we were able to get it out that day. Plus, keep our normal production numbers where they need to be.”

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With an on-demand labor pool, RTIC can add capacity for these one-off requirements without pulling resources away from its core production.

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Responding in the Same Day

As RTIC has built its labor pool, many operators are familiar with the processes and can step in quickly when needed.

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“We come in on a Monday and we have three thousand more orders than what we were expecting. And so by ten o'clock, we can have another group of of people coming in, and we find some some people just like that flexibility in their schedule.”

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This ability to scale capacity within the same day allows RTIC to stay aligned with demand without overstaffing in advance.

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What Changed

RTIC moved from planning labor around expected volume to adjusting headcount based on what actually hits the floor:

• Headcount flexes with order volume and timing
• Additional workload is absorbed without slowing existing production
• New processes are stood up without pulling full-time employees off the floor
• Lead times are maintained even during peak volume