Did you know that a fearless German named Adolf Ehinger, known for printing anti-Nazi propaganda, invented the first shredding machine?

Ehinger developed the hand-cranked shredding machine in 1935 to protect himself from an inquiry by the Third Reich.

If Ehinger found shredding an effective security measure, shouldn’t your office have a paper shredder?

Five Reasons to Use a Paper Shredder

There are plenty of ways to upgrade your office or workspace, but having a great set of shredder blades is essential to running a safe, secure, and professional business.

1. Obeying Federal and State Law

Ever heard of the FTC disposal rule? It’s federal law regarding the appropriate disposal of consumer information.

Most states also have additional laws addressing the right way to dispose of client/customer data.

You have to protect the privacy of your clients by shredding documents that contain personal information. If you don’t, you could face serious fines.

2. Protecting Trade Secrets

“Trade secrets” can be anything from top secret recipes to customer lists, sales information, to vendor data, or even profit numbers.

Whatever your business’s intellectual capital may be, the best way to protect it from competitors is to own and use a shredder on the regular. Plus, there is a sense of satisfaction that comes from dropping paper through the machine.

3. Fraud and Identity Theft

Sadly, there are plenty of crooks out there who make a living by stealing a business’s private information. They will often use this information to make large purchases under an employee name or even the business name itself.

When hiring people, human resource departments print and posses many personal documents. These documents contain employees’ social security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and more.

Protect personal and financial information by shredding everything you don’t need.

4. Save Your Company Time

If for some reason you end up making the mistake of not following the federal or state laws about document disposal, you will face a huge workload trying to fix your errors.

Save your business hours of frustrating work and dispose of personal information correctly to begin with. Time is money. The more time you spend fixing mistakes, the less you’ll profit later.

5. Affordability of Shredders

Because so much legal emphasis is on the proper disposal of private information, a quality paper shredder has become a staple in almost every American workplace.

Luckily, this means the prices for good shredders have dropped over the past few decades. Sales for crosscut shredders, for example, skyrocketed since 2005.

Now, it’s more affordable than ever to buy a great shredder for your home or office.

Other Vital Office Supplies

A paper shredder is an obvious essential when stocking up on office supplies. But is your workplace doing without any other useful tools? We’re here to help you improve your office.

For more ideas on other important office must-haves, check out our blog post on must-have office supplies and some you should get rid of.