Which Water-activated tape dispenser is for me?

Many of you might be wondering the answer to this exact question, the honest answer is – it depends.

It depends on a variety of factors, including your budget and your processes. In this post, we will try and unpack whether a manual or electronic tape dispenser is the choice for your business.

Water activated tape (WAT) is fast evolving in the marketplace today with the plastic tax in sight of many consumers. Many consumers are already reaping the benefits of switching from plastic to paper tape, including cost, time, and productivity. So, lets deep dive into the pro’s and cons of both the manual and electric water activated tape dispensers.

 

Manual Water Activated Tape Dispenser

Our range of manual (WAT) dispensers are ideal for users that may not have access to electricity near their packing station or do not box more than 50 cartons a day. The most basic manual WAT dispenser requires the packer to pull the tape over a wet brush and then manually tear the tape by pulling it against the blade.

Other manual WAT dispensers such as our BP-222 and BP-333 are a little more advanced and assist the packer with the process of wetting the tape and cutting it with the push of a lever. The BP-333 has 15 clearly marked preset tape lengths, allowing the packer to set their desired tape length, and cut all in one.

Pros:

  • Lower cost than electric WAT dispensers
  • Do not require electricity to function
  • Great for packing stations without electricity
  • Great for packing stations that require mobility for the machine
  • Increase efficiency for the packing and shipping process
  • Great for low to mid volume packaging stations
  • Require little to no operator training

Cons:

  • Does require minimal manual effort by the packer in order to operate

 

Electronic Water Activated Tape Dispensers

Electronic WAT dispensers remove the manual effort for the packer and increases productivity within the packing station. They are perfect for the packing stations packing >50 cartons per day.

The BP-555 is made for fast-paced shipping and packaging environments. The BP-555 is easy to use and has an inbuilt keypad that indicate preset lengths of tape for packers to simply choose from. On top of that, dispensing the tape is even simpler, with a push a button, tape will immediately dispense to the preset length.

The BP-55 is the only electronic water-activated tape dispenser in the industry to be UL Listed and Approved by the independent safety certification company, Underwriters Laboratory.

Pros:

  • Extremely efficient for packing and shipping stations
  • Great for high-volume, fast-paced packaging environments
  • Durable
  • Customizable
  • Require very little operator training
  • Reduces employee risk

Cons:

  • More expensive than manual WAT dispensers
  • Requires electricity in order to operate

 

Which one is the right one for my budget you still may ask? Again, this depends on a wide variety of factors, if your answer is yes to the questions below, an electronic tape dispenser is the one for you, if not, we recommend going with a manual tape dispenser to fulfil your needs.

  • Do you have a high-volume carton shipping department?
  • Do you have access to electricity near the packing station?

Still unsure which WAT dispenser is the one for you, please call one of our expert team members today, 1300 66 11 61.

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