What's In A Name?
If your company uses name badges for the employees - and if you are the person responsible for ordering them - this article should interest you. Ordering custom name badges is easy once you have the basics picked out - which color(s), which font, which frame, etc. After you've made those decisions, it just a matter of providing the name that goes on them. They're much more professional-looking than the paper ones inserted into the cheap plastic badge holders and they give your company a polished appearance. Now here comes the "but" - but they have to be special ordered and you have to wait for them to come in.
So you may ask, "How can I make professional-looking name badges for our employees myself so I don't have to wait for them - and save my company some money?" I'm so glad you asked. If you are a DIY person, there are a couple of routes you can take. There are actually quite a lot of ID Systems out there vying for your business, but since I am obviously not a fan of the paper inserts in the foldover plastic holders, I'm going to eliminate that possibility right from the start. After all, we are looking for something professional.
If you're a large company, you might consider an ID card printer, like this one:
Printers like these will make the rectangular PVC-style name badges that are typically slot punched and attached to a lanyard. As you can see, there are a lot of pieces to this type of system. These printers are top-of-the-line systems with corresponding price tags ($1500-$3000 depending on the model) and numerous consumables to go with them. But since I started this section with the preface, "If you're a large company..." this might be the ticket for you. If you are large enough, the system would pay for itself fairly quickly. Call us at 877-795-2600 for more information if you're interested in one of these systems.
For small-to-medium size companies, consider the Mighty Badge system. The starter kit contains the design software, plus 10 metal base plates, lens covers and magnet fasteners. It includes 2 sheets each of crystal clear and bright white laser/inkjet insert sheets. With 20 inserts per sheet, that gives you enough to make 80 badges if they are reused. You can get the starter kit in either gold or silver and the inserts are fully customizable with full color graphics, so the badges don't have to be gold or silver. You can print the inserts to be whatever color you want them to be. One of our clients uses these and the insert is printed with a solid blue background with their logo and employee name - it's quite sharp. And there's no worry about damaging clothing since the badges use a magnetic back.
You can also get a bulk kit that has 50 metal base plates, lens covers and magnet fasteners. There are refill kits that include everything (except the software, since you get that in the starter kit) or kits that only have the insert sheets. The basic starter kit retails around $125.99 and the bulk kit goes for around $399. $399 for 50 badges works out to only $8 per badge - but your price would be even less since you don't pay retail when you purchase from us. The Mighty Badge system is fast, simple to use, and inexpensive.
How much are you spending per badge right now for your custom badges?