Every packaging operation has a hand dispenser somewhere on the line. It’s cheap, familiar, and gets the job done — or so the thinking goes. What most operations never calculate is what that hand dispenser is actually costing them: in material waste, in labor time, and in the compounding cost of cartons that fail in transit.
The Better Pack® 555eS electric water-activated tape dispenser is a capital investment. But the question isn’t whether it costs money — it’s how quickly it stops costing and starts paying. The answer, for most mid-to-high-volume operations, is faster than expected.
THE EVIDENCE
Independent Testing by SGS North America
To validate the performance of water-activated tape (WAT) vs. pressure-sensitive tape (PST), Better Packages commissioned SGS North America — a global, industry-leading independent testing and verification firm — to conduct objective, multifaceted tests. SGS determined four key criteria: productivity, material usage, tape integrity, and adhesion strength.WAT
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SGS CONCLUSION |
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| TEST | WAT (BETTER PACK 555ES) | PST (HAND-HELD DISPENSER) | ADVANTAGE |
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Productivity |
649 cartons / 6-hr shift |
535 cartons / 6-hr shift |
+21% with WAT |
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Material usage |
Avg. tape per carton |
8% more tape per carton |
8% less tape with WAT |
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Tape integrity |
Secure in all 3 climates tested |
Failed in cold & tropical |
WAT: tamper-evident in every environment |
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Adhesion strength |
Removed 80% of carton fibers |
Peeled off cleanly |
WAT bonds structurally to the box |
KEY FINDINGS
What The Numbers Mean for your Operation
THE SYSTEM
Why the Better Pack® 555eS delivers these results 
WAT without the right dispenser doesn’t deliver this performance. Manually cutting and wetting WAT is slow and inconsistent — it undermines the material’s advantages. The Better Pack® 555eS is designed to eliminate that bottleneck.
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Automatic length dispensing |
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Consistent activation every cycle |
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Built for multi-shift, high-volume environments |
THE MATH
Building your Payback Case
Three variables drive the ROI calculation for most operations: labor savings from the productivity gain, material savings from reduced tape consumption, and avoided costs from damage claims and seal failures.
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SAVINGS CATEGORY |
CONSERVATIVE |
MID-RANGE |
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Labor efficiency (21% productivity gain) |
$3,000 / yr |
$7,500 / yr |
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Tape material reduction (8% savings) |
$1,200 / yr |
$2,400 / yr |
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Avoided damage claims & re-work |
$1,800 / yr |
$3,600 / yr |
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Total estimated annual savings |
$6,000 / yr |
$13,500 / yr |
With annual savings in the $6,000–$13,500 range, most mid-volume operations see full payback on the Better Pack® 555eS within 12 months. Higher-volume operations — running 1,000+ cartons per shift — can see it in six.
BOTTOM LINE
The Hand Dispenser Hidden Cost is the Real Number to Calculate
Most operations see a hand dispenser as a low-cost solution because the upfront number is small. But the hand dispenser cost isn’t in the hardware — it’s in the labor inefficiency, the material waste, and the seal failures that accumulate invisibly across thousands of cartons per year.
The Better Pack® 555eS, paired with WAT, converts those hidden costs into measurable, recoverable savings. The SGS data makes the case independently. The math makes the timeline clear.
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See the full SGS test data and explore the Better Pack® 555eS Download the independent SGS report and calculate your own payback period. |