Are You Shredding Your Budget?

With identity theft and data breaches on the rise, information security has become a big issue for businesses. Proper disposal of documents with sensitive information is a must. That need has led many businesses to hire a shredding service to help with document disposal. Is hiring a shredding service really the way to go?

At first glance, shredding services can seem to be cheaper than buying a shredder. If you really crunch the numbers though, you’ll find that buying a shredder can be the better choice over the long run. A shredder is a one-time investment with limited upkeep. A good commercial grade shredder should last 5 years or more. All you’ll really need is the occasional bottle of shredder oil to keep it running. Hiring a service is an ongoing expense – an expense that can rise each year.

How much can you save? Probably a lot more than you think. Let’s take a look at an actual example from a mid-size business (Let’s call it A Corp) that switched from a service to in-house shredding.

A Corp has four 64-gallon shredding bins stationed throughout the office. Bins are picked up twice a month. A Corp pays $244.00 a month for pick up and shredding of their documents, for a total of $2,928.00 per year. Over the course of five years (the average lifespan of a commercial shredder), A Corp will pay at least $14,640.00 for shredding services — and they could pay even more if the cost of the service increases within those 5 years.

Now let’s look at what A Corp will spend if they decide to move to in-house shredding.

One of A Corp’s reservations about moving to in-house shredding is wasted time. Sure, shredding services can cost more, but no one is wasting time (and payroll dollars) shoving paper into the shredder. That’s why A Corp’s account manager pointed them towards a Fellowes AutoMax shredder. With AutoMax, there’s no wasted time. You just open the drawer, throw your documents in, close the drawer, and push start. The shredder will automatically shred everything in the drawer before unlocking so it’s ready for the next person. No supervision needed. Even if A Corp chooses the top-of-the-line AutoMax 500C, they’ll pay just $7,036.00 to replace their bins with shredders (assuming a discount for buying 4 shredders at once). That’s a savings of 52% over the cost of a shredding service. The shredders will pay for themselves after just 29 months, leaving A Corp with 31 months of “free” shredding.

If staff time is less of a concern, A Corp could save even more by choosing a commercial grade manual shredder like the PowerShred 225Ci. Replacing their shredder bins with the PowerShred will cost just $4,480.00. The shredders will pay for themselves in just 20 months, leaving them 40 months of cost-free shredding.

5 Year Shredding Expense

If you’re ready to consider switching from a shredding service to in-house shredding (or just looking for a new shredder), give us a call or contact your account manager today. We’ll be happy to do a detailed analysis and help recommend the best shredder(s) for your needs.