Monday, 10 February 2014

Types of Paper Shredders - A Comparison

In an office environment, all companies maintain sensitive documents. Over time, one is often required to shred and dispose the papers containing some valuable sensitive information. That's when a shredder comes into the picture, in order to shred huge volumes of paper in a short span of time.

The main advantages of using a paper shredder is its speed, its automation, ability of handle large volumes.

When it comes to paper shredders, there are roughly about 4 types of machines used for shredding (each identified by the style of shredding) as follows :
  • Strip-cut Shredders
  • Cross-cut Shredders (Confetti, Diamond cuts)
  • Micro-cut Shredders
  • Super-Micro-cut Shredders
Strip-cut shredders are the most basic, cheapest form of shredders. It cuts papers in strips. Note that, with some effort, these strips can be put back together and the document can be reconstructed. Hence these shredders are extremely the low level types and are not secure. These shredders are just perfect for basic home or small office use.

Eg : Fellowes 4690001 Powershred 90S 18-Sheet Strip Cut Shredder

Image Courtesy : Amazon

Cross-cut shredders add an extra level security by cutting the paper in cross cuts. Usually, in diamond or confetti cuts. This makes it more difficult to reassemble the pieces to reconstruct the original document. These can shred CD's and credit cards as well.

Eg : Swingline Hands-free 100-Sheet Super Cross Cut Shredder


Image Courtesy : Amazon

Micro-cut shredders are considered even more secure since they cut the papers in much smaller sizes than strip-cut. Just like the cross-cut varieties, these can shred CD's and credit cards as well.

Eg : SimplyShred 10-Sheet Micro Cut Heavy Duty Shredder


Image Courtesy : Amazon

Super Micro-cut shredders are even secure than micro-cut varieties since the cutting size is even much smaller. Thus making it extremely difficult to reconstruct the document.

Similarly, Confetti and Diamond shredders cut papers in specific shapes and are quite useful for extra added security.

Note that most good quality top-shelf products come jam-detection functionality to detect any paper jams. Check each product's specifications to suit your needs before buying.

If you plan to use shredders for heavy duty industrial purpose, then maybe you should try the following industrial strength products :

Intimus Cross Cut Shredder

Swingline CX40-59 Commercial Shredder

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