Tools & Materials
Equipment and consumables with use, buying tips, indicative Australian prices (AUD) and budget alternatives, plus tiers by daily volume so you don’t over- or under-buy.
Tape guns & case sealers
From a $20 tape gun to a semi-auto case sealer — buy to volume, don’t let sealing be the bottleneck.
LabellingThermal label printers
Peel-and-stick, no ink — often the first piece of equipment that pays for itself.
VerificationBench & dimensional scales
Weigh as you seal and flag odd weights to cut errors and DIM-weight disputes.
ConsumablesChoosing void fill
Bubble wrap, foam, kraft paper, air pillows and polystyrene — match fill to product and cost.
PackagingBoxes & poly mailers
Standard box-size table, when to use mailers, and how to converge to 3–4 sizes.
Equipment by volume (Australian indicative budget)
Fix the flow and station first, then add equipment to the real bottleneck — never automate a broken process.
| Tier | Daily volume | Recommended setup | Budget (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | ~50–100 | Sturdy table, tape gun, bench scale, cutter, tape measure, anti-fatigue mat, shelving, waste bins | ~A$600–1,500 |
| Intermediate | ~100–250 | Adjustable table, thermal printer, dimensional scale, vertical box dispenser, box resizer, short conveyor, task lighting | ~A$2,500–6,000 |
| Advanced | ~250+ | Conveyor, semi-auto case sealer, label applicator, WMS scanning, integrated fill, dashboards | ~A$8,000–20,000+ |
Equipment prices are indicative Australian retail bands in AUD for 2026. They vary by brand, retailer, promotion and over time, and exclude GST, freight and installation; the invoice at purchase prevails. “Seconds saved” are ranges from published warehouse-operations material — estimates, not guarantees. Time your own process with a stopwatch first. See Sources & method.
Not sure what to buy first?
Run the optimizer — it recommends equipment and the order to buy based on your biggest waste.