Efficiency is the name of the game for any successful mailroom, but you can’t win that game if you don’t have the right gear! If you do any business by mail, you need to be sure that you have the right supplies and equipment. A well-stocked and well-equipped mailroom will improve operations, boost profits, speed up deliveries, and ensure that your employees and customers are satisfied. We’ve compiled a list of the most essential mailroom supplies and equipment that you simply can’t do without, starting with…
Storage
While your goods wait to get packaged and sent out, they need to be stored somewhere. Your mailroom needs wall-to-wall organizers and bins to manage all the items coming in and going out. Make sure your organizers have enough room to hold your goods. For instance, small and loose items are best placed in bins, while slim materials like mailers and envelopes should be set in slotted sorters.
On top of having plenty of organizers, you’ll also want to establish which ones will be used for incoming and outgoing items. You may want to consider two-sided organizers to maximize your throughput. Just don’t forget to take measurements of your mailroom so you can purchase organizers and bins that fit the dimensions.
Water-Activated Tape Dispenser
Taping packages all day can be boring and arduous, especially if employees are using handheld tape dispensers. While plastic carton sealing tape is fast and cheap, the seal can weaken in high humidity and extreme temperatures. Furthermore, the repetitive motion of applying tape by hand can eventually result in strain and stress injuries.
Give your employees a breather with a water-activated tape dispenser. Unlike a handheld dispenser, water-activated tape dispensers stand freely on counters and tables. Many of these dispensers have automatic settings that dispense set lengths of kraft tape. Gummed kraft tape, when activated with a coating of water, forms a powerful seal on cartons as the adhesive penetrates the fibers of the package. While kraft tape and water-activated dispensers may have high costs upfront, these fast and efficient tools will pay for themselves in no time. And while we’re on the subject…
Stock Up on Tape
A mailroom without tape is like a kettle that can’t boil water: it’s failed before it even got started. Tape is one of the core tools to have in a mailroom, so make sure yours is well-stocked. Whether you use water-activated gummed tape or plastic carton sealing tape, take the time and ensure that you purchase bulk orders of your tape of choice at set intervals, like once a month or once every two weeks. It’s better to have more than you need than to find yourself suddenly out of stock.
Beyond the tape you’ll be using to seal cartons, consider investing in other kinds of tape. Masking tape is a versatile tool that’s great for making labels or temporarily bundling small items. Strapping tape is excellent at quickly and securely palletizing loads. And you can probably find more uses for duct tape than anything we’d be able to list.
Packaging
In a perfect world, you’ll always have the perfect-sized package available for whatever item you’re shipping. Unfortunately, that world doesn’t exist. In the mailroom, you’re guaranteed to be shipping goods of all shapes, sizes, and weights, so you’ll need a variety of packaging supplies to accommodate all these different goods.
As a general rule of thumb, you want to buy packaging that’s slightly larger than the item you’re shipping. This guarantees that your item will fit inside while keeping the size of the package at a minimum. However, if you feel lost or overwhelmed over finding the right packaging for your goods, feel free to contact your supplier and set up a consultation. They’ll be more than happy to advise you on picking the right supplies for your needs.
Last but not least, don’t neglect the advertising possibilities. Boxes and poly mailers provide plenty of space for you to add your company’s logo, slogan, and other branding information. This way, you reach not only your customers, but also everyone along the supply chain who sees and handles your shipments. The more people that are aware of your brand, the easier you can grow your customer base.
Postal Scales and Measurement Devices
Your shipping costs are directly tied to the size and weight of your packages. Therefore, you need accurate and well-calibrated scales and measuring devices to ensure that your packages are meeting the regulations and standards of the USPS, FedEx, UPS, or any other shipping service you use.
Remember: you not only face high shipping charges when your package is too heavy, but also when it's too large. Even if your package is as light as a feather, the volumetric size of your package, also known as its dimensional weight, may have a significant impact on how much you’re spending on your shipments. With the right scales and measurers, you can accurately determine your item’s size and weight, then choose packaging that keeps your shipping costs low.
Shredders
Sometimes, what happens in the mailroom stays in the mailroom. When that’s the case, make sure the mailroom is equipped with document shredders. After all, you have a responsibility to safeguard your company’s confidential and proprietary documents from falling into the hands of corporate spies, hackers, identity thieves, and other shady individuals.
You’ll want to set up your room with your paper shredders set off to the side or in a separate room altogether to maximize privacy. Furthermore, you may want special disposal services to take your shredded paper and certify that all traces have been destroyed. Corporate security is not something to be taken lightly.
Folding and Inserting Mailing Machine
Anyone who sends out holiday cards at the end of the year knows how long it takes to fold individual letters and stuff them into envelopes. Save your staff the time and effort and get them a folding and inserting machine. These precise, high-capacity machines can ready thousands of letters, fliers, and other documents for mailing within an hour, each document getting neatly folded and sealed inside its envelope in under a second.
Gloves
For as much work as your staff will do with their hands, you ought to make sure those hands are adequately protected. Stock up on different kinds of gloves for different purposes.
General-purpose work gloves help to prevent callouses and strain while making it safer to pick up and handle certain items. Cut-resistant gloves are ideal for employees who’ll be using scissors, box cutters, letter openers, and other sharp objects. And even latex and nitrile gloves are handy to avoid any contamination between your employees and the items they’ll be packaging, handling, and shipping.
Protected hands mean lower insurance premiums and fewer sick days, so make sure your employees are covered!
Hand Trucks and Mail Carts
Mail can be heavy and plentiful, so make sure you’ve got the equipment to move it all around. A sturdy hand truck or mail cart keeps your staff from putting stress on their backs and arms through all that bending, lifting, and handling. At the same time, these carts also minimize any damage inflicted on the packages themselves.
If you have the space and budget, invest in a conveyor belt or roller conveyor. These conveyors maximize your mailroom’s throughput and make your operations faster and more efficient. Just make certain that a conveyor is right for your mailroom, or else it might be expensive overkill.
Packing Things Up
As you can see, a lot goes into having a functional and successful mailroom. While this article went over the essential equipment for a mailroom, there’s still more information on this topic to cover. For advice on smart mailroom practices, be sure to take a look at this helpful guide from Pepper Virtual Assistant.
While it might seem overwhelming to invest in all this equipment and supplies, if you take your time and go through each one individually, you can see how each will lend itself to creating a better mailroom. And don’t forget to contact your supplier to set up a consultation! A great supplier will advise you on the best equipment for your business and may even offer special rates on their products. So stock up on the essentials today and ensure your mailroom is in optimal condition for your business needs.
