Before you specify
Frequently Asked Questions
Is P-3 good enough for confidential business documents?
For most internal commercial-confidential material, yes. P-3 caps particle area at 320 mm2 and this cut produces 240 mm2, so reconstruction requires deliberate, sustained effort rather than patience and tape. Where P-3 is not enough is when an external requirement names a level: client security schedules, some insurance conditions and many healthcare and financial privacy programmes specify P-4 or P-5. Check the requirement before you buy on throughput alone.
How does this compare with the P-4 version of the same machine?
Identical chassis, identical 7.5 kW motor, identical 905 kg. The only differences are the cutting head and what it costs you in speed: 6 x 40-53 mm at 300-350 sheets per pass here, versus 3.9 x 40 mm at 180-200 sheets on the P-4. If you are undecided, buy the security level your policy requires rather than the throughput you would prefer, because the cutting head is not something you change later.
How many people can share this machine before it becomes a bottleneck?
The machine itself is rated for continuous operation and takes 300-350 sheets a pass, so in practice it is not the constraint. What limits a shared installation is the walk to the destruction room and the handling of boxes and consoles. Departments that generate genuinely industrial volumes usually feed a machine like this from wheeled consoles on a collection round rather than by individual staff visits.
Does it handle staples, paper clips and crumpled paper?
Yes to all three, plus continuous and computer listing paper, CDs and DVDs, floppy disks, credit cards and USB sticks. Crumpled paper matters more than it sounds: material recovered from consoles and bins is rarely flat, and a conveyor-fed machine with a 500 mm intake will take it as it comes. Remove ring binder mechanisms and metal clamps, which are not on HSM's list.
What does emptying involve?
The 530 litre container sits on a trolley you pull out from under the machine. It is lined with a reusable collecting bag, so there are no disposable sacks to buy or fit. Frequency depends entirely on your material and how well it settles; HSM does not publish a fill-rate figure and we are not going to invent one. Plan around a collection round rather than a fixed schedule.
What supply voltage does it need?
Three-phase, listed by HSM's US technical data as 208 V / 60 Hz; the European datasheet for the same model states 400 V / 50 Hz. It cannot be run from a standard single-phase outlet. Confirm the supply and the disconnect at the intended location with an electrician before ordering, and treat the electrical connection as a separate line item from the machine.
How big is it and can we move it once installed?
1168 x 1796 x 1792 mm, roughly 46 x 71 x 71 inches, with the depth including the conveyor feed table. It runs on castors with a parking brake, so repositioning within a room is straightforward once it is in there. Getting it in there is the harder part: at 905 kg it needs proper mechanical handling and a delivery route survey.