Know Your Paper Shredder

Have you noticed the shredder machine in your office?  The main job of a shredder machine is to destroy unwanted confidential/personal documents safely. Data security and alarming increase in identity theft are the main reasons behind the increased usage of shredders.

A shredding machine is built with sharp blades to cut papers in to small pieces, making it difficult to recreate. The shredding machines now become one of the important products that top the office supplies invoice. The modern shredding machines are built to shred CDs and DVDs also.

The first paper shredder patent was issued to A.A. Low in 1908. But this model is not so popular and many are not aware about document security during his time. Later in 1936 Adolf Ehinger, a German patented his own paper shredder machine. He was inspired by the hand-cranked pasta maker and created a shredder machine similar to that model. It worked well and later he modified the shredder machine with electric motor and sold to his customers. 

The shredding machine was first used by governments, embassies and financial institutions. Since they handle more classified documents, the shredding machine helped them to destroy confidential data safely. Later the importance of document security was felt by many and usage of shredders increased.

Today all businesses widely use paper shredders in order to secure sensitive date and reduce the risk of identity theft. New laws of office security and standards also emphasis use of shredders to maintain data security. Selecting the right kind of shredder is important to save your business documents.

Before choosing a shredder for your office, first analyze the volume of usage and then look for the type of shredder that matches your requirements. There are three major types of shredders that are available in the office equipments market. They are strip cut shredders, cross cut shredders and micro cut shredders.

The strip cut shredders produce long strips of paper sized one fourth or one eight of an inch.  These shredders are fast and low priced when compared to the cross cut shredders.   If you are running a small office and handle less sensitive data, you may opt for these types of shredders.  The cross cut shredders have specially designed blades which cut the paper both horizontally and vertically, making it impossible to recreate.

The cross cut shredders are priced high and are used to shred highly confidential documents. The micro cut shredders are mostly used in top secret government agencies and military, since these shredders literally turns the documents to dust.

The modern shredders are coming in a more attractive design and shape that fit your desk space and beautify your office atmosphere. They have many new features that help you to shred the confidential documents safely, to prevent identity theft.