According to materials, there can be metal name plates, plastic name plates, acrylic name plates, paper name plates, and wood name plates. However, if usage is considered, name plates can be of the following types:
- Office Name plates - These are used to recognize employees and their job titles.
- Equipment Name plates - Name plates provide useful information about equipment.
- Branding Name plates - Logo name plates serve as a great branding tool for any business.
- Award Name plates - These are given as an award or to show how much you appreciate someone
- Labeling Name plates - Used to label products on a shelf, items in a buffet, etc.
- Decorative Name plates - These are used as home decor for children’s rooms and as gifts.
Proper Identification: Name plates are used by organizations to identify the occupants of the office spaces, desks, or cubicles.
- Motivation for Employees: A name plate bearing an employee’s name automatically generates a sense of pride and importance. The happiness and satisfaction of employees are great contributors to their productivity. Most companies gift name plates to acknowledge relationships and improve personal connections.
- Better Navigation: When people need to find someone, they can easily identify the right person due to the name plate.
- Save Time: Name plates help first-time visitors, guests, and new employees can quickly find out who they’re meeting and keep the guesswork out while they’re looking for a specific person.
- Professional Look: Door name plates enhance the professional and organized look of your facility. Visitors in the office find it very impressive to observe a clearly defined name plate for every employee.
- Identify Changes: Name plates can identify new employees joining after someone leaves the organization, workers getting promoted, moving to a different department, or any other kind of changes.
Name plates can be installed at the following locations:
- Doors
- Walls (either flush on the wall or perpendicular to the wall)
- Desks
- Cubicles
- Objects (Equipment name plates)
Name plates are not just used in office settings, but various equipment name plates are used in some of the following industries:
- Equipment manufacturing
- Appliance manufacturers
- Automotive
- Business and service industries
- Medical
- School
- Food Catering
- Retail
- Safety
- Warehousing
Door Nameplates - Door nameplates are more useful when people looking for you know your name or designation but don’t know where your private space, department, or room is. These are often required for senior employees who sit inside a cabin or closed working space.
Desk Nameplates - On the other hand, Desk Nameplates are useful when the person knows your territory but is not aware of your name or job title. A desk name plate creates a personal touch.
The intended purpose, application, or the type of facility are a few factors to consider while choosing between the two name plates. If visitors are going to spend more time sitting with the employee across his desk, a desk name plate is better for name retention, but if the people are going to spend more time waiting outside the room, a door name plate would be better.