For every Cincinnati business, effectively managing customer information and employee data is key to maintaining trust, credibility and for protecting your hard-earned reputation.
Sometimes to save money, Cincinnati and Dayton businesses complete paper destruction internally, rather than hiring a local, professional shredding company such as Royal Document Destruction. However, the true cost of in-house paper shredding needs to be thoroughly considered.
Consider ALL Of The Hidden Costs of DIY Shredding
In-house paper shredding has a range of hidden costs that can negatively impact a company’s bottom line, including:
1. Employee Time and Commitment
In-house shredding is actually a multi-step, multi-person, time-consuming process when done correctly.
Because many office shredders only handle paper, your Cincinnati staff may spend tedious time removing staples, paper clips and all other materials before hand-feeding small amounts of paper methodically into the machine. Employees will also need to empty the trash when the job is completed. Lots of time and details must be considered.
DIY paper shredding also means that staff can view confidential papers before destroying them, as well as make final decisions on what is shred. Therefore, any employee involved with their tri-state area company’s internal office shredding must be fully vetted, and 100% reliable.
Because confidential paper shredding is time-sensitive, but not particularly difficult, it may be assigned to a temporary or newer employee at your Cincinnati office, which leads to a higher possibility of a data breach. Assigning office shredding to anyone with free time can be a recipe for disaster! Laws and corporate liability regulations dictate that confidential shredding be done correctly each time to protect customer and employee information.
2. Equipment Costs
Companies that purchase their own shredding machine must also pay for maintenance. Though office-size shredders are not expensive, they are usually not great on quality either. Office shredders often break down, experience paper jams, and need replaced. Repair costs can add up quickly and may contribute to reduced time efficiency with the staff. Equipment difficulties also lead to a backlog of paper shredding projects, impacting your document security.
3. Safety
Office shredders present a safety risk if not operated properly. Staples and paper clips need removed carefully to avoid injury. The paper must be fed into the machine slowly. It is a time-consuming and methodical process. Office shredding machines are also temperamental and may require your staff to “fix a jam,” which also leads to injury risks.
4. The Potential Of A Data Breach
Data security vulnerabilities of DIY shredding program have much more serious consequences for Cincinnati and Dayton businesses than staffing or equipment challenges.
Office shredders often cut paper into vertical or horizontal strips, which can be easily reassembled. Those in-house shredded documents often end up in the dumpster, which are then public property. A NAID certified Cincinnati shredding company, like Royal Document Destruction, is required to constantly maintain the highest industry standards regarding the entire shred process. NAID standards exceed all laws and regulations regarding document security. So, the paper shred size, efficiency of paper shredding, and secure chain of custody are just some of the reasons many Cincinnati and Dayton companies elect to outsource their paper shredding to a NAID certified shredding company.
5. Environmental Costs
DIY office shredding programs often end with the paper shreds in the garbage, moved to the dumpster, and then into the landfill, rather than being recycled. Importantly, anything disposed of in a dumpster becomes public property. This means that data thieves have much easier access to steal confidential information. An in-house shred solution negatively impacts the environment if the paper ends up in the landfill rather than being recycled by a professional Cincinnati shredding company like Royal Document Destruction.
Working with a NAID certified shredding company, like Royal Document Destruction, means our company takes full liability of the paper as soon as it is picked up, shreds it upon arrival at our facility with high-speed, industrial equipment under video surveillance, then recycles 100% of paper waste at the end. Clearly, outsourcing paper shredding is the best overall secure shred solution for Dayton and Cincinnati businesses.
With the many business decisions your team makes daily operating your Dayton or Cincinnati area business, it truly pays to hire a long-term, NAID certified Cincinnati shredding company like Royal Document Destruction as a best business practice.
With almost 30 years of business excellence, Royal Document Destruction is family-owned, and excels at providing guaranteed, customized, and cost-effective shredding for Cincinnati and Dayton businesses.
