Paper Shredding Machines - Why You Need One

Paper shredders are an important piece of office equipment. Many commercial businesses have confidential documents that need to be shredded. Without them, industrial espionage by dumpster divers or disgruntled employees could be very costly. However, paper shredding machines are available to make sure that confidential information remains secure.

One of the most important considerations is the the degree of randomness that paper shredding machines cut the paper. They have a security level assigned to them depending on the smallness of the paper shreds from class 1 (least secure) to class 6 (most secure). The United States government requires top secret or classified government documents to be shredded at class 5 or class 6. Strip cut shredders cut the paper into long strands as long as the original document. Although they are cheap, the shredded paper can be reconstructed by a determined investigator. Strip cut shredders are usually class 1 or class 2. Cross cut shredders are better for commercial use since they are able to produce small rectangular or diamond shaped pieces of paper that are nearly impossible to reconstruct. Cross cut shredders are usually between class 2 and class 6.

For most companies, cross cut paper shredding machines are the best choice due to their security. Those who need the highest amount of security should look at micro cross cut shredders. They work similarly to normal cross cuts except that their shreds are a lot smaller. A class 5 micro cut shredder has shreds that are no bigger than 0.8 mm by 12 mm, which is very close to the standard used by the US Government classified documents in 2008.

There are a lot of specialty paper shredding machines as well. For example, a company may need a high speed industrial paper shredders that meet class 2 or class 3 standards. The most important factors are the productivity and durability of the machine. When there is a room's worth of confidential documents to dispose of, it can take away a significant amount of employee time to get them shredded on a conventional shredder.

A high speed industrial shredder can handle a lot more volume without any maintenance in between. Digital and multimedia shredders are also available to destroy discs, which are becoming increasingly more common, and often contain confidential data. Many other specialty shredders are available as well. No matter what needs to be shredded, there is probably a machine out there that is designed to do so.

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