Office Equipment Blog from Office Zone

Imagine your business does 100 transactions with monetary currency per day (or don’t imagine it does, if yours happens to do exactly 100 every day, but keep reading anyway). If every transaction was short a dime, by the end of one year, your cash losses would total $3650–enough money to buy a coin counter that could suit you even if your business was on the Las Vegas Strip and still have enough left over to ride The Stratosphere 30 consecutive times (We strongly recommend you get the coin counter; we strongly recommend you don’t ride The Stratosphere 30 consecutive times).

Basically, every business needs two kinds of money counters: the human kind and the machine kind. Both have features that the other can’t mimic. The human kind calculates, researches and audits. The machine kind never adjusts its figures to benefit itself.

When dealing with pocket change, being wrong once is not a problem; being wrong once every half-hour, all day long–which can happen with the human kind, not the machine kind– is a very expensive problem. Coin counters are the best way for businesses to be exact, right down to the last penny. I’m not sure what the best way is to ensure exactness with the other kind of counter. Perhaps hire the one that’s the most like a machine… oops, I forgot we were talking about accountants–that could be a very difficult task.

Taylor

Why do people use typewriters today? Some of our customers are surprised to learn that we sell typewriters. Although the typewriter was introduced in the late 1800’s, it serves some practical uses. Typewriters are popular in developing countries, where income is limited and computers are not an option. Here in the states, most of our typewriter customers include schools, from gradeschool to college, government agencies, and free-lance writers. A few of our government clients have certain forms that must be completed with a typewriter. Do you know someone who uses a typewriter? If so, be sure to post your comments here to let us know about it.

Statistics prove that over 100% of employees are unhappy with their current time clock system (margin of error: 100%). It’s probably not that bad, but if your time clock was the model that replaced the large-fanged, prehistoric bird from The Flinstones, perhaps the time has come for IT to be replaced. When a time clock malfunctions, the repercussions can be extremely frustrating for the employees. It’s no coincidence that most people’s payment due dates on their bills coincide with their paydays. Often times, if someone’s pay check is a day late–which usually translates to the following week, being a Friday–their bill payment or payments won’t clear. When that occurs, a “service fee” for insufficient funds is added to their account. These fees run the employee, who was not acting irresponsibly, anywhere from $20 to $30 for every check that isn’t covered. Even people with “overdraft protection” of some kind are required to pay a “transfer fee” of six to ten dollars.

A time clock malfunction is also taxing on the department–generally accounting–charged with correcting the problem. Overtime hours that ought to be spent otherwise, are wasted calculating figures that should be automatic. If this department has to guess or rely on the employees’ memories, the process can also be financially burdening. So get a new time clock for your store or office. Put the old one by the entrance and mark it “solicitor check-in.”

Taylor

“I see that you sell trade show banner stands. Can you overnight an order to our tradeshow location?”

Answer: Most definitely. You may be surprised to learn that this is a common request. If you’re like me and your memory isn’t always in top form, you sometimes forget important stuff for your business trip. Or, the trade show materials you brought may be insufficient. You will find a wide variety of trade show banner stands at Office Zone. They come in a wide variety of sizes and colors. Retractable banner stands are perfect for almost any trade show setting. And , if you call us before our shipping deadline (late afternoon), we typically can get your banner stands to you by the next day. Good luck at your trade show!

Every office has one machine that makes whoever is using it want to throw it off the freeway overpass in front of an oncoming semi carrying someone’s new double-wide. We at Office Zone are proud of the fact that said machine is almost always a so-called “fax/copy/printer,” which we do not sell. A more accurate name would be “a stress/anger/blood pressure raiser.” It seems to do more of the latter than the former. Isn’t it amazing how a machine that–regardless of which of its three functions it’s performing–only processes one sheet of paper at a time and still manages to get jammed or experience similar problems? When one of our paper shredders, for instance, jams, it’s almost always because it was used incorrectly. Our shredders destroy 10, 20, even 100’s of sheets of paper at one time, depending on the model. You can consistently stick whole reams of paper into some of our cutters for several hours and not get a jam. Our machines, from laminators to vacuum sealers, do not cause problems when they are used for appropriately-sized tasks. We invariably have larger machines to accommodate bigger jobs. So, the next time your attempt to fax, copy or print fails and leaves you with “electronicidal” tendencies, I hope you think of us and all of the machines that you wouldn’t put in your enemy’s bed while he’s sleeping.

Taylor

I’m looking for a folder inserter that can fold 3 sheets of paper together, nest a #9 bre, stuff the folded paper and bre into a #10, and seal it in one operation.

Answer: I’m not sure what kind of volume you are doing, or what kind of letter paper you are using, but you can’t go wrong with the  Formax FD6202 Paper Folder Inserter. We’ve have a demo model on our showroom floor and have tested it for years with all sorts of folds and inserts. I haven’t seen the actual letter and business reply envlope you’re using (the best thing to do is to send us samples for testing), but I’m confident in recommending the FD6202 to almost anyone. It will fold your three sheets of paper together and insert them along with your BRE into a No. 10 envelope and lick it shut.

We have several old documents piling up in our office archive room that need shredding. What paper shredders do you recommend? Some of our documents contain sensitive information.

Phil S.

Answer:

If you have a lot of paper that you need to shred, we could recommend several models. However, the paper shredder we use at Office Zone for destroying confidential information, such as old customer orders and other files, is the HSM model 411.2 high security shredder. This is not only a high security shredder, but it’s heavy duty as well. It comes in two versions, security level 5 or 6. We’ve had our machine for about a year now and it’s a real workhorse. You can read more about the different shred sizes and security levels at our Paper Shredder Guide.

Good Afternoon..

I am in the market for a vacuum sealer… but I would like to use my own bags (4mil thick)… is this possible?

Willy S.

Answer:

That would depend on the model vacuum sealer machine you are using. Some vacuum sealers would work with your 4 mil. bag, while others will not. The best thing to do is for you to send us your samples for testing. We will then contact you with the results.

Question: I am looking for a stamping or foil machine that will stamp on soccer balls.  If you do not have this could you point me in a direction.

Mike V.

Answer:

You can foil stamp almost any soccer ball as long as it’s made of leather, or simulated leather, and it’s deflated. This will give you a flat surface to stamp on. I highly recommend the Howard Model 45 Foil Stamping Machine. You can find a wide variety of foil stamping fonts here. You will find the foil rolls here. The Howard Model 45 foil stamper a highly versatile machine that should last you for years.

Envelope openers or “envelopeners,” as I call them, are extremely useful in an office setting, particularly to companies that receive large quantities of mail. Monkeys, on the other hand, have been proven to be less effective in a “white collar” environment. Some envelope openers can prepare 350 letters for reading in one minute. Ten monkeys would be able to destroy 350 letters beyond recognition in one minute. Our machines safely and evenly cut envelopes without damaging the contents. Again, ten monkeys would be able to destroy 350 letters beyond recognition. Our envelope openers are of the highest quality and guaranteed to be priced lower than anywhere else. Primates of any species are expensive to care for and difficult to acquire; not to mention the cost of all the fines that would inevitably be imposed for employing ten of them. We have both manual and automatic machines with a variety of time-saving features. Opening letters with your hands is tiring and often results in paper cuts. Using the unsharp, dagger-looking device might get old fast but there’s nothing speedy about the way it does its job. Envelope openers, especially the automatic machines, enable office personnel to attend to more substantial things than opening letters (which is anything unless your job is to prove O.J. Simpson’s innocence). Besides, monkeys use their hands to open their mail–humans should use technology.

Taylor