What Makes Professional Shredding So Much Better than DIY?

“Time is Money”

That pithy observation of truth, also known as an aphorism, was originally written to emphasize the monetary cost of laziness, but over time, the phrase has become so much more than that. The availability of professional shredding has lent even greater weight to this popular saying.

Cost of Staff Time and Morale

Doing your own shredding may feel like a good way to avoid the ongoing expense of a professional shredding service, but the truth is, less-obvious costs can be much more expensive. Here are some things you may have overlooked in evaluating the cost of DIY shredding:

• Someone has to shred it, but if it’s your employees, you’re paying them to feed paper into a machine instead of focusing on your business’ mission. And unless you have purchased an industrial-sized shredder, you are very limited to feeding just a few sheets at a time, making shredding a stack of papers a bigger job than expected.
• Did you know that many office shredders have an average run time of about 10 minutes before overheating? That’s not very many sheets of paper before a long break is required.
• Emptying the shredding receptacle, clearing paper jams, and waiting in line for others to use the shredder just to find out it’s overheated makes for frustrated employees. Positive morale is a silent but valuable entity that offers great dividends with a more energized and focused staff.
• Someone has to remove the paperclips, staples, binder clips, and folders before shredding. That takes additional time and increases frustration.
• Everyone has to tolerate the noise, especially those closest to the shredding machine. It interrupts concentration, phone calls, and meetings. Frankly, the annoyance of the machine regularly grinding its way through paperwork undermines morale even further.

When you add up all of these costs, handing over the task to a professional shredding company can create significant savings for your company. Using the expertise and experience of a professional shredding vendor not only removes the time and frustration, it adds security due to the high-quality shredding equipment and strict security protocols, ensuring your information is well protected and helping you avoid a costly data breach.

Cost of Equipment

When adding up the costs of DIY versus professional shredding, buying an affordable office shredding machine from the local office supply store may have sealed your decision. The problem is, it’s not a matter of if, but when it will let you down. There will inevitably be a full breakdown, and it will need to be replaced regularly. Each time this happens, it will create a backlog of confidential documents waiting to be shredded, leaving them vulnerable to unauthorized access.

When you use a professional shredding company, you don’t have to pay for repairs or replacements. They use industrial-sized shredders that shred large quantities of documents quickly, chewing up staples, fasteners, paperclips, folders, and more. You don’t have to worry about the equipment. All you have to do is schedule your shredding service and let the professionals take it from there.

Cost of a Data Breach

Risking a data breach, either by accident or by theft, is an expense that no company can afford. The financial cost of a data breach is huge, with fines, notifications, and lawyer fees. Add to that the cost of damaging your client relationships and company reputation, and it’s clear that the cost is far too high.

When you choose to partner with a local, reputable shredding company, you know they will handle your information within a secure chain of custody, maintaining strict security measures from the moment they collect your documents until they are destroyed. And when they provide you with a Certificate of Destruction, you have the proof you need that you complied with federal and state data privacy laws. If your business is ever audited, it will prove indispensable.

Wiggins Shredding provides secure, professional shredding services throughout Pennsylvania and the Tri-State area of New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. To find out more about our services or to book shredding, call us at 610-692-TEAR (8327) or complete the form on this page. One of our shredding experts will be happy to assist you.