How Does Tannery Tracking Work in Taxidermy Software?
The tannery is where most taxidermy shops lose visibility. An animal comes in, you prep the cape, ship it out. And then it disappears into a black box for 8-16 weeks. You don't know exactly where it is. Your customer definitely doesn't know. And when they call asking about their mount, you have to dig through your own notes to figure out when it shipped and when it's supposed to come back.
Tannery tracking closes that gap. Here's how it works in practice.
TL;DR
- Tannery tracking gives taxidermists a running log of every hide shipped, current status, expected return date, and actual return date.
- Without tracking, taxidermists rely on memory or scattered notes to know where each cape stands with the tannery.
- Tannery delays of 2-4 weeks beyond the estimated return are common, and tracking lets you respond proactively.
- MountChief's tannery tracking updates customer portal status automatically when shipments are logged.
- Shops with tannery tracking spend significantly less time on status calls from customers waiting on big-game mounts.
What Tannery Tracking Does
Tannery tracking in MountChief lets you log every shipment you send to the tannery, which jobs are in the shipment, the date shipped, which tannery, and the expected return date.
When the hides come back, you mark them as returned and update individual job records. The status flows automatically to the customer portal: hunters logged into their tracking page see that their hide is at the tannery with an expected return date, or that it's back in the shop and in production.
It's not a live API into the tannery's own system. It's shop-managed tracking, you're the one updating the records. But that's enough to solve the problem. Customers need to know the status; they don't need a real-time GPS location on their cape.
How to Log a Tannery Shipment
When you're ready to ship a batch of hides, the process in MountChief is straightforward:
- Select the jobs from your queue that are ready for tannery
- Create a shipment record with the destination tannery, ship date, and expected return
- Attach tracking information if you're shipping via UPS or FedEx
- Confirm the shipment, all selected jobs automatically update to "At Tannery" status
From that point, customers with portal access see their job status as "At Tannery: Expected Return: [date]." The customer portal shows this without you doing anything else.
Updating When Hides Return
When a batch comes back from the tannery, you mark the return in the system:
- Open the relevant shipment record
- Mark individual hides as returned, or mark the whole batch if they all came back
- Job statuses update to "In Production" automatically
If only part of a shipment returned (common with larger tanneries that batch process differently) you mark individual hides and leave the rest in "At Tannery" status.
Can Your Tannery Update Status Directly?
This is a common question. No, tanneries don't currently connect directly to MountChief. The status updates come from your shop's records, not a live feed from the tannery's system.
In practice, this works fine. Most taxidermists ship in batches and receive in batches. You know when things shipped. You know roughly when they'll be back based on the tannery's standard turnaround. Logging that information at ship time and updating it at return time gives customers 90% of the visibility they're actually looking for.
For shops with high volumes and multiple tannery relationships, batch shipping schedules are usually consistent enough that your expected return dates are accurate within a week or two. Which is all customers need to stop calling.
How Tannery Tracking Improves Timeline Accuracy
Shops with active tannery tracking set 40% more accurate customer timeline estimates than shops without. The reason is simple: when you're tracking actual ship dates and actual return dates across multiple seasons, you build real data on how long each tannery actually takes.
That data turns vague estimates ("usually about 10-12 weeks") into specific ones ("we typically ship in the first week of November and get back in mid-January: so count on pickup in late January or February"). Specific estimates create fewer disputes.
The tannery shipment tracking guide covers how to structure your tannery relationships and shipment cadence for maximum production efficiency.
What Customers See in Their Portal
When a customer logs into their tracking portal, they see a status timeline for their mount. While the hide is at the tannery, they see:
- Current status: "At Tannery"
- Tannery name (optional, you choose whether to display this)
- Expected return date
- Next milestone: "In Production" once returned
This is the difference between a customer calling you every three weeks and a customer checking their portal and waiting. The information doesn't change the tannery's timeline. It changes the customer's experience of that timeline.
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FAQ
How do I connect my tannery to MountChief?
You don't connect a tannery directly, tanneries don't have a live API integration with MountChief. Instead, you log shipments and expected return dates manually when you ship, and mark returns when hides come back. This shop-managed tracking automatically updates customer portal statuses without requiring any action from the tannery.
Can my tannery use MountChief to update status directly?
Not currently. Tannery status updates in MountChief are managed by your shop, not by the tannery. You log shipments when they go out and mark returns when hides come back. In practice this works well because most shops ship and receive in predictable batches, and the key data customers need (current status and expected return date) is fully covered by shop-managed logging.
What does the customer see when their hide is at the tannery?
In the tracking portal, customers see their job status listed as "At Tannery" with the expected return date. Once the hide returns, the status updates to "In Production." Customers can check this anytime without calling you, which is what drives the 90% reduction in inbound status calls for shops using the portal consistently.
What information does tannery tracking capture?
A complete tannery tracking log captures the date shipped, tannery name, hide count and species in the shipment, expected return date, actual return date when received, and any notes about the shipment. MountChief stores this at both the individual job level and as an aggregate shipment log, so you can see all shipments to a given tannery at once.
How does tannery tracking help with customer communication?
When you know a tannery is running three weeks late, you can proactively update your customer portal statuses and reach out to customers with mounts in that shipment before they call you. That proactive communication is the difference between a frustrated customer and one who appreciates being kept informed.
Can I track multiple tanneries in MountChief?
Yes. Many shops use more than one tannery for different species or different types of work. MountChief's tannery tracking supports multiple tanneries and keeps shipments organized by tannery so you can monitor each relationship separately.
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Sources
- National Taxidermists Association (NTA)
- Breakthrough Magazine
- Taxidermy Today
Get Started with MountChief
Tannery tracking is the most requested feature taxidermists ask for after they start using shop management software, because the tannery gap is where timelines fall apart. MountChief's tannery tracking is built into the platform from day one. Try MountChief to get full visibility into every hide you have out for tanning.