Heavy Duty vs. Standard Duty Cash Drawers

Choosing the right cash drawer for your retail environment is an important decision with implications for your business’s success. You need a cash drawer that’s durable and dependable; it needs to keep up with your use. You don’t want to invest in new cash drawers and installation, only to find they need to be replaced after a few thousand cycles. Whether you need one cash drawer for infrequent use or several cash drawers that will be used continuously, there is a product solution to meet your needs

How do you know what cash drawer is best for your retail environment? Heavy duty describes high activity environments such as fast food, grocery, hospitality, and convenience stores. Standard duty describes lower activity environments such as mall kiosks and specialty shops. These environments have distinctly different needs. Check out the common components of a cash drawer below to determine what type of cash drawer is best for your business.

Terms to Know

Cycle life: Cycle life is the main factor in determining whether a drawer falls under the heavy duty or standard duty category. One cycle equals a drawer opening and closing once. A heavy duty cash drawer will last longer and will require little or no maintenance. A typical life expectancy of a heavy duty drawer is 4 million cycles while a standard duty drawer will last 1 million cycles.

Suspension System: The suspension system in a cash drawer allows it to open and close. Many heavy duty drawers have industrial grade steel slides which include large ball bearings running in a heavy gauge track for smooth, consistent, and quiet operation. Standard duty drawers are built with a roller wheel suspension. Roller wheels are made from plastic and are not as durable. Some roller wheels actually have ball bearings in them making them more durable than most standard duty drawers.

Heavy Duty Ball Bearings Standard Duty Roller Wheels

Latch: A latch is what keeps the cash drawer closed. The type of latch used in a drawer often affects the cycle life. Choosing the right materials along with a robust design will determine the life of the drawer. Unfortunately, just looking at the latch may not tell you if it will last or not.

Why choose a heavy duty cash drawer?

If you’ll be using your cash drawer in a high traffic environment, you should consider a heavy duty cash drawer. High traffic is usually characterized by constant use of your cash drawer or by periods of extremely heavy use.

The following characteristics of an APG Heavy Duty Cash Drawer were implemented to meet the needs of your high traffic environment, bringing you peace of mind at a low cost of ownership.

• Industrial-grade steel ball bearing slides for maximum dependability.
• Fatigue resistant latching/opening system.
• Robust construction of the case components
• Durable mechanical and electrical components tested to last four million operations.
• Three-year to lifetime product warranty depending on the product chosen.

Why Choose a Standard Duty Cash Drawer?

If you’ll be using your cash drawer in a light to medium traffic environment, you can consider a standard duty cash drawer. Low to medium traffic is characterized by low or infrequent use of your cash drawer.

The following characteristics of an APG Standard Duty Cash Drawer were implemented to meet the needs of your low traffic environment, bringing you a reliable drawer when low initial cost is your priority.

• Reliable, roller wheel suspension, adequate for low cash drawer use.
• Electronic drawers tested to last over one million cycles.
• Manual drawers tested to last 300,000 cycles.
• Two-year product warranty.­

To learn more about heavy duty vs. standard duty cash drawers, please visit our products page.