Compliance & Rating Plates

A rating plate, also called a data plate or a machine data plate, is the plate an engineer reads when they need to know what a machine actually is. Model and serial number, voltage, frequency, current and power, and the capacity figures that matter for that class of equipment: load, working pressure, flow rate, speed and temperature range. It is the plate a spares order and a service call both start from, which is why it has to stay readable for as long as the machine is in service.

A compliance plate carries a different kind of content. Instead of operating data it records certification references, test and inspection information, statutory markings and manufacturer details for equipment that has to show them: pressure vessels, lifting equipment, tanks and regulated machinery. Many machines carry both, as two plates or as one plate split into a data panel and a certification panel.

We manufacture the plate to the content you give us. The wording, figures, certification references and markings come from you, your certifying body or your client. We do not originate or verify that data, and we do not advise on what a plate is required to show. Send it as a drawing, a completed template, a spreadsheet or a photograph of the plate the machine used to carry.

Stainless steel is the usual choice where the plate has to last: 304 for general plant, 316 for marine, coastal and wash down environments, in non directional, 2B, hairline or mirror finish. Aluminium, anodised or in mill finish, is lighter and cheaper and suits indoor and enclosed equipment. Brass is available plain, and is used where the plate is on show.

Chemical etching is the process most often specified for a data plate. It bites the characters into the metal to a controlled depth and the recess is then colour filled, so the plate survives abrasion, solvent wiping and years of handling without the text thinning out. Laser marking and laser engraving give a permanent mark with fine detail, which suits small type, serial numbers, barcodes, QR and UID codes. Rotary engraving handles thicker stock, and screen printing or UV flatbed printing puts multiple colours and full logos onto a plate where the environment allows it. Etched, engraved and laser marked plates are produced under our Milmark process brand; printed plates under Milscreen.

Replacement plates are a large part of this work. Where an original has corroded, been painted over or worn until the wording has gone entirely, we make a new one. Send a photograph, a rubbing, a partial serial number, the equipment manual, the inspection certificate or the original drawing, and we will rebuild the layout from it. Where nothing legible survives at all, the data can be taken from your certificate or your inspection body’s records instead, and we reproduce it exactly as you supply it. For a fleet of identical units we work from a spreadsheet and run the serial numbers in sequence.

Cranes, hoists, gondolas, mobile elevating work platforms, chain blocks, slings, shackles and eyebolts all carry a safe working load and an identification number, and pressure vessels, air receivers and steam receivers carry their own registration data. A plate that can no longer be read is a problem at inspection, and replacing it is usually the quickest part of putting the equipment back into service. We remake these to the wording and figures your certifier gives you.

Plates are supplied flat, pre-drilled to your fixing centres, or with adhesive backing. On hot or vibrating equipment, screws or blind rivets are the safer fixing, because adhesive tends to release at temperature. Million has in house graphic designers, so if the layout is not drawn up we can set it out from your figures.

If instead you need a plate that identifies a particular machine by name, asset number or tag number rather than by its specifications, see our Equipment and Machinery Nameplates page. Contact us with the wording, plate size, material and quantity for a quotation.

Produced alongside our custom metal nameplates and gauge faces and instrument dial plates, so a machine and its instruments carry one marking scheme.