What is the ROI of a Taping System?

Written by IPG | Sep 4, 2026

Calculating How Fast a Dispenser Pays for Itself

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

SGS CONCLUSION WAT demonstrates superior performance in every way for carton sealing. The results across all four test categories were unambiguous.
TEST	WAT (BETTER PACK 555ES)	PST (HAND-HELD DISPENSER)	ADVANTAGE
Productivity	649 cartons / 6-hr shift	535 cartons / 6-hr shift	+21% with WAT
Material usage	Avg. tape per carton	8% more tape per carton	8% less tape with WAT
Tape integrity	Secure in all 3 climates tested	Failed in cold & tropical	WAT: tamper-evident in every environment
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

+21%

More cartons sealed per hour with WAT

In SGS’s six-hour productivity test, packers using the Better Pack 555eS sealed 649 cartons vs. 535 with a PST dispenser. For an operation running 500 cartons per shift, that’s the equivalent of 105 additional cartons — without adding headcount.

8% less

Tape consumed per carton

WAT’s structural bond with corrugated means a single, properly applied strip holds — no over-taping, no double-layering, no re-application. On a line consuming thousands of rolls annually, 8% material savings is a meaningful budget line.

80%

Of carton fibers removed when WAT is peeled

When WAT was removed in the adhesion test, it took 80% of the carton’s paper fibers with it — structurally integrated with the box. PST peeled off cleanly with no fiber transfer and no evidence of the tape’s presence. For tamper-evident packaging and liability protection, that difference is definitive.

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.

Automatic length dispensing

Pre-set tape lengths mean every strip is measured, wetted, and ready to apply in a single motion — eliminating the hand-measuring and inconsistency that inflate tape consumption and slow down manual lines.

Consistent activation every cycle

The 555eS’s water activation system delivers the same moisture level on every strip, ensuring full bond strength across every carton — no dry spots, no weak seals, no failed shipments.

Built for multi-shift, high-volume environments

Durable construction and programmable settings make the 555eS reliable across demanding production schedules. One machine. Consistent output. No hand dispenser variability.

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.

SAVINGS CATEGORY	CONSERVATIVE	MID-RANGE
Labor efficiency (21% productivity gain)	$3,000 / yr	$7,500 / yr
Tape material reduction (8% savings)	$1,200 / yr	$2,400 / yr
Avoided damage claims & re-work	$1,800 / yr	$3,600 / yr
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.

See the full SGS test data and explore the Better Pack® 555eS

Download the independent SGS report and calculate your own payback period.

VIEW SGS TEST RESULTS →

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