Keeping Track of Pottery Work When You Have Five Kilns and Zero Minutes
I stopped trying to manage my studio with spreadsheets around 2018. That was the year I realized I was spending three hours every Friday night entering data that would immediately become wrong because I had already forgotten which glaze batch was which. A proper Tracker For Pottery Daily workflow changed how I run the business, but it took me about six months to get it working without becoming a chore. The system I use now is simple. I track three things every single day: what came out of the kiln, what sold, and what needs rebirthing or repair. That is it. Anything more and you end up spending more time managing the tracking system than making pottery. The tool I use does not matter as much as the habit of recording the data immediately after firing.
Why Daily Tracking Matters More Than Weekly
Potters tend to batch their record-keeping. They fire on Saturday, then sit down Sunday evening to figure out what sold last week. By Monday the details have blurred. Which piece went to which customer? Was that vase in the good glaze batch or the one that ran? Did that order ship or just get packed? I learned this the hard way when a customer asked about a bowl she ordered four months earlier. I had no record of the glaze, the firing date, or who packaged it. She wanted a replacement because the rim had chips. I could not tell her what batch it came from or whether I had the materials to reproduce it. That cost me the sale and a referral that would have brought in two more orders. Daily tracking prevents that kind of memory lapse. The second a piece leaves the kiln, I write down the date, the kiln number, the glaze codes, and any visible defects. If it goes straight to shipping, I note the customer and tracking number in the same entry. It takes about ninety seconds per piece. Over a full firing of twenty items, that is thirty minutes. Worth every minute when you need answers later.
What to Record and How to Organize It
Each piece gets a unique identifier. I use a combination of date, kiln letter, and sequential number. Something like 2403A07 for March third, kiln A, seventh piece that firing. This works because I never reuse the same kiln on the same day in a way that creates confusion. If I fire both kilns on the same day, I note that in the header of the tracking sheet so the numbers do not overlap. The essential fields are date fired, kiln identifier, piece type, glaze batch number, sale status, customer information if sold, and any defects or repairs needed. I keep this in a shared document that both my studio assistant and I can access from our phones while loading or unloading kilns. We do not go back to the desk to enter data. That habit died quickly once we realized phones were already in our hands. Sales tracking works differently. I record the sale the same day the piece leaves the studio. If it goes to a gallery on consignment, I mark it as consignment with the gallery name and expected payment date. If it sells at a show, I note the event name and the buyer information if they provided it. Repeat customers get flagged so I can remember them when they email asking about a specific glaze.
Get the Full Details
The Glaze Batch Problem and My Workaround
Glaze tracking is where most potters struggle. A single batch of ten gallons of glaze can cover fifty pieces, but the consistency varies depending on how thoroughly you stirred it and how long it sat before use. The first pieces in the bucket often look slightly different from the last ones. Without batch numbers, you cannot reproduce a successful glaze later because you do not know which mix produced the result. I number each batch by the date I mixed it and add a letter if I make multiple batches on the same day. 2401A means January third, first mix. 2401B means January third, second mix. I record the recipe proportions and the water ratio in the same entry so I can adjust if the glaze thickness feels off during application. This detail matters because humidity changes the water evaporation rate, and the same recipe behaves differently in summer compared to winter. When a customer asks for a match to a piece they bought months ago, I can pull up the batch number, check the date, and see whether I still have enough raw materials to reproduce that exact mix. If I do not, I know immediately whether I need to order more cobalt carbonate or adjust the formulation. This saves hours of trial and error that would otherwise go into guessing what worked before.
Repairs and Rebirthing Tracking
Pieces that fail inspection or arrive damaged need a separate tracking path. I create a status field with options like new, selling, consignment, damaged, or rebirthing. Damaged pieces go into a holding area with a note about what happened. Did they crack during cooling? Were they chipped during packing? Who was handling them when the damage occurred? Rebirthing refers to pieces that can be fixed. A crack in the body might be repaired with slip andfired. A glazed surface defect might need sanding and reglazing. I track these separately because they tie up materials and kiln space without generating immediate revenue. Knowing how many pieces are in repair at any given time helps me decide whether to accept more work or focus on clearing the backlog. The downside of daily tracking is that it requires discipline. There are days when you just want to fire, pack, and ship without writing anything down. The pieces still get made, but the records lag behind. I usually fall two or three days behind during busy festival seasons, then spend a Sunday afternoon catching up. The system works because the entries are quick to make, not because they are comprehensive. You can always add details later if they become relevant.
When the System Breaks Down
Daily tracking does not solve every problem. If you fire irregularly, with gaps of two or three weeks between sessions, the habit becomes harder to maintain. You forget what format you were using or which fields matter. I keep a printed checklist at the studio entrance so the process is always visible, even when I am tired or distracted. The system also fails if you try to track too many variables. Some potters add temperature curves, humidity readings, and detailed photos for every piece. That turns a thirty-minute process into a two-hour project. The data gets recorded, but nobody looks at it later because it took too long to enter in the first place. Keep it simple. Track what you need to answer questions, not what sounds impressive. If you work alone without assistants, the burden falls entirely on you. There is no one to remind you to log the firing or double-check the batch numbers. I hired a part-time studio hand specifically to help with record-keeping during peak seasons. The cost is about two hundred dollars per week, but it prevents the kind of data gaps that lead to customer complaints and lost sales.
Getting Started Without Overthinking It
You do not need expensive software. A shared Google Sheet or a simple database works fine for most studios. The format matters less than the consistency. Pick a system, define your fields, and start recording. You can refine the categories later once you understand which data points actually get used. The first month will feel mechanical. You will want to skip entries or combine them to save time. Do not. The habit forms faster when you treat it like loading the kiln rather than paperwork. Same routine, same frequency, same level of attention. After six weeks, you will not remember why you ever avoided tracking in the first place. If daily tracking feels overwhelming, start with just the firing dates and batch numbers. Add sales information once that becomes automatic. Layer in the repair and rebirthing logs after that. Each addition takes about a week to become habitual. The complete system does not require more than five minutes per piece once you have the routine down.
