Most packing benches use material that was made somewhere else and delivered. That arrangement works, and for low-volume operations it is entirely adequate. It becomes worth questioning when the operation ships regularly, because the two costs involved, buying packaging material and disposing of boxes, sit on the same balance sheet and rarely get compared.
Producing cushioning at the bench changes three things, and each one is worth understanding before deciding.
The first change is where the material comes from. Instead of a delivery arriving on a schedule, material comes from boxes already in the building. Boxes that arrive with inbound shipments become the raw input, which means the supply scales with the operation's own activity rather than with a supplier's schedule. A busier week produces more incoming boxes and requires more packaging material, and those two facts match naturally rather than by coincidence.
The second change is storage. Purchased cushioning occupies space from delivery to use, and in most operations that means a designated area holding pallets or sacks of material. Producing at the bench removes that interval entirely, because the material is expanded at the moment it is needed. What sits on the shelf instead is flat cardboard, which stacks compactly and arrives with shipments rather than as a separate delivery.
The third change is format flexibility. Purchased cushioning comes in a fixed shape and size, and the operation works with whatever was ordered. Bench production can produce strips, mesh, or both depending on the machine. Strips are dense and uniform and stay where they are placed, which suits void fill for light goods where the concern is movement rather than impact, and they work for wrapping and separating items in the same box. Mesh expands into a three-dimensional structure that absorbs impact and conforms around irregular shapes, which suits fragile items and products that are not rectangular.
What determines whether this works is matching the machine to the material and the products. Width is the first check. Measure the boxes that arrive over a two-week period rather than assuming standard sizes, because incoming packaging varies by supplier and product type. If a large share exceeds the machine's cutting width, every box needs preparation before feeding, and that preparation is labour that recurs daily. Typical widths run from 350mm on bench units up to 1200mm on the widest floor-standing models.
Thickness is the second check. Single-wall board is a few millimetres thick, while double-wall and triple-wall board, common for heavier products, is thicker. Bench units handle up to around 10mm. Mid-range floor-standing models handle 15mm. The wider models handle 20mm and process board that arrives as double or triple-wall without separating sheets first.
Power is the third check. Bench units run on standard 110V or 220V. Some floor-standing models support single-phase and three-phase. The widest units are 380V three-phase only, and confirming supply before comparing specifications avoids delays at delivery.
Material preparation and maintenance are the practical details that determine whether the machine stays in daily use. Standard corrugated cardboard is suitable, including single-wall and some double-wall. Clean, dry cardboard works best. Light tape and labels are acceptable. Staples, metal inserts, and reinforcing materials should be removed before feeding, because they damage cutting components. Blades dull over time, and a dull blade produces uneven output, which affects protection quality, so checking blades on a regular schedule keeps the machine running at specification.
What happens inside the machine affects how long it stays in service. Aircosan shafts are large one-piece units machined from 40Cr steel rather than the more common 45#, processed through lathe work, high-frequency treatment, quenching, and blackening, and designed for a service life beyond five years. At the same 550mm cutting width, Aircosan shafts are larger and thicker than peers, with roughly 30% more material cost, and the clearest indicator of shaft size is overall machine weight.
Whether the bench should produce its own cushioning comes down to volume and current cost. Take the monthly spend on packaging material. Add the monthly spend on box disposal. If both are significant and boxes arrive regularly, production at the bench converts one cost into the other. If the operation ships very little, or boxes arrive irregularly, the calculation usually does not work, and purchasing material remains the simpler answer.