Originally, Fox Valley, an American company that invented the 1st aerosol marking cart used the small boxes existing at the time (18 oz). It’s a French company that introduced this product in Europe, adapted this standard to the stock of European cases and the 500 ml then developed a lot. It was Rocol who really introduced the use of the useful 750 ml case in the 90s. The increased autonomy and the saving of time in application have imposed this volume as the one most suitable for the marking of lines by aerosols.

There are several reasons for this. First, some customers perceive that 500 ml aerosols are more economical – yet it is the cost per meter that should be considered, not the unit price of an aerosol. Then customers are used to this use of small housings and their tracking carts are often only usable with this volume. Finally, an important part of the need for marking concerns the application of paint by stencils (zebras, storage areas,…) and the 500 ml case is easier to handle by hand. But to draw lines, a useful aerosol of 750 ml is the best solution.

It is not possible to commit to a guaranteed duration, because the resistance of the paint over time is linked to several parameters: the type of soil, the field of use (indoor or outdoor) and especially the type of traffic to which it is subjected. In the same warehouse, a marking can withstand several years in an area without traffic, or several months or worse several weeks in a reception area where handling equipment constantly crosses…. Very often, it is considered that a car park can be refreshed every year, as well as the areas of normal circulation in the warehouse. For areas with high traffic, a refresh should be considered every 6-8 months. NB: in the past, we indicated an expected lifetime of the marking; from now on, we will no longer use this criterion to differentiate soil marking products.

When it is necessary to make markings on the ground, it most often concerns areas that cannot be condemned for very long (production area, warehouse, parking,..). Therefore, what matters is the speed of implementation. But not all products on the market can be applied at the same speed! Most have a flow rate and pressure that require moving slowly to ensure a fairly covering marking. The notion of Optimal Speed of Application corresponds to the speed at which the product guarantees its best quality/covering performance in relation to the time spent applying it.

The system usually consists of a trolley that “carries” the aerosol, a paint aerosol and a spray system. It is this whole that needs to be evaluated. Having a very resistant paint that applies very slowly, a spray system that guarantees a straight edge on a cart that does not roll straight, or a system that requires cleaning, these are bad solutions.

More than 95% of the lines used in companies are straight lines – so the priority is to already guarantee the application of straight lines with a good level of quality and efficiency.

The purpose of a ground marking line is to be seen!… In most cases, the lines are subject to traffic (vehicles & pedestrians) that clogs the surface of the marking: the gum of the tires of the trans-pallets and dust can accumulate and quickly make the line disappear. A good floor marking paint is therefore sufficiently resistant to mechanical wear (tearing, abrasion,…) but also particularly resistant to fouling. It is the quality of the paint film – and more precisely its hardness – that guarantees this quality.

The application trolleys on the market have not benefited from any significant innovation in the last 10 years, and our research has shown that there can be a significant improvement in quality and speed, while reducing the total cost of applying aerosol floor marking. You will be surprised to discover the simplicity of use, the time saved and the savings made by using the Soppec PureSPRAY system™ . In addition to saving you time and money, it allows you to guarantee compliant signage inside and out, by applying paint but also by installing adhesives.

With over 30 years of experience in the spray paint market, we were able to determine what was needed to quickly apply a good floor marking paint. We took each item separately and then put them together in a system. Our trolley – the Soppec DRIVER™ – has the function of guaranteeing a straight line. It is particularly stable and designed not to be disturbed by the user’s movements. It makes it easy to follow an existing line or rope marking, and is convertible into an adhesive applicator. SOPPEC Tracing PRO paint has a very high covering power and a pigment density that guarantees a contrasting, durable and exceptionally resistant marking to fouling. The design of the nozzle, the design of the valve and the unique formulation of the gas and resin mixture, together constitute the “magic” that produces a regular line, at the right edge without marking fog, applicable at the speed of 10 m in 30 seconds, 60% faster than its closest competitor. The Soppec PureSPRAY™ trade name of course evokes pure, fog-free marking, and no gimmicks or messy flanges that require cleaning the cart and its components after marking.

The Tracing Pro is equipped with a nozzle that is housed and immobilized in a very precise and intuitive way in the aerosol support of the Soppec DRIVER™. Thanks to this male/female assembly, the action on the trigger is immediately transferred to the nozzle, and this assembly is not subjected to vibrations or other impacts of the trolley on the ground. The nozzle is called versatile because in addition to being usable on the Soppec DRIVER™ trolley, it allows optimal use by hand for marking on stencils, and it delivered mounted on all our aerosols; this is a real difference compared to Rocol’s products, which come with 2 unmounted nozzles, and compared to Ampère’s products that do not allow the aerosol to be used by hand.

Rather than providing this option, we preferred to design a particularly narrow and agile trolley that can easily slip against the walls and advance as close as possible to a frontal obstacle (wall, parking curb,…). Thanks to this, it is possible to mark up to 60 mm of a frontal obstacle and 79 mm of a lateral obstacle, all while guaranteeing impeccable stability. For comparison, the new Rocol trolley presents a gap of xx mm in front and yy in lateral.

The QR code allows you as a user to have access to the assembly manual and the instructions for use. When you scan the QR code (often via the camera), you are automatically directed to a video (gif) where you find out how to mount the cart and use it (1- unscrew the rear button screw, 2- position the drawbar on the cart and lock it, 3- shake the aerosol for 1 minute, 4- loosen the front collar and insert the aerosol vertically into the support , 5- position the nozzle in its cradle by pivoting 90 ° to the right and left until hearing the “click”, 6- tighten the screw button of the collar to lock the aerosol, 7- adjust the width of marking using the graduation). The QR code allows access to the www.soppec-purespray.com site that hosts ALL the necessary information related to the system (trolley + aerosol), and in particular, product sheets, commercial documents (flyer), notices, videos and 360 °, visuals of products, the visuals of the products, the link to the MSDS, the questions and answers, etc. This site is designed to be readable on a smartphone or tablet (“responsive”). It also links to the Technima website, and is available in French and English. 

There are different approaches to the quality of the wheels used on line marking trolleys For our Soppec DRIVER™ trolley we found that the biggest disturbance during marking came from… the person doing the marking and pushing the cart! Therefore, we designed a cart that not only is particularly stable, straight and free of mounting play, but also requires no effort to operate. The user simply controls the rate of progress and aligns himself to a marker well in front of the marking area. It is much easier to make a straight line when you walk naturally, looking forward, without making an effort to control your progress on the wheels. Rocol’s cart doesn’t roll naturally – you have to push it and control its direction. Ampere’s cart rolls straight but requires constant support to move forward.

The graduation allows to indicate the width of the line which depends on the height of the nozzle relative to the ground: the higher the nozzle and the wider the line – from 50 mm to 120 mm. To adjust the marking width, simply adjust the height of the aerosol carrier to bring the line below the selected width at the upper edge of the trolley. It is good to try anyway on a piece of cardboard, to be sure that everything is in place.

Indeed, when using the Soppec DRIVER trolley™ outside and with wind, a little paint can accumulate under the trolley. This does not pose a problem since the spraying area remains clean. If necessary, you can clean the paint residues with a cloth after use: the paint does not cling well to the polyethylene surface.

The chassis and handle of the Soppec DRIVER™ trolley are made of roto-molded polyethylene, a recyclable material. It is simply necessary to loosen the 6 metal inserts before depositing it in the recycling streams. The rest of the components are steel-based. The wheels are made of polypropylene but feature ball bearings.

Yes, the Soppec DRIVER™ trolley was designed with this specific design, a little between completely closed models such as the Ampère trolley or the Arvoe trolley (also known as the Polish trolley…), and the very open models such as the Rocol trolley. In fact the opening is related to the fact that we first sought to advance the aerosol as much as possible to limit the frontal deviation, and that we favored the PureSPRAY effect™ avoiding as much as possible the interference of the edges with the spray area. This corresponds well to the internal marking – where no protection is needed – and the windless external marking. When there is wind, we have also provided a protective housing (removable, and optional for now) that can close the spray area from the front by clipping on the front deck of the trolley. Thanks to this, we guarantee the best marking inside and out!

We have deliberately chosen to source all the components of the Soppec DRIVER™ trolley in France, and we work with partners located less than 300 km from our logistics site in Nersac. Only the wheels come from a European supplier outside France. For painting, we manufacture, formulate and package Soppec PureSPRAY aerosols™ in Nouvelle Aquitaine, our historical base. This close sourcing allows us to consider evolving the product if necessary and to bring it new features for the benefit of the user. And this helps to minimize the environmental impact of our solution.

By making this choice, we want to facilitate the use of the product: we equip each aerosol with a colored collar that allows the user to always know what he has in his case. The Soppec Tracing Pro range is offered in 7 colors, and corresponds to identified RAL colors.

There are 2 main types of markings: on the one hand, road marking associated with national and international standards and regulations, and which corresponds to mechanized application devices adapted to very feature films and resistance designed for specific conditions (traffic, visibility at night, climate,…). On the other hand, industrial marking and the marking of non-road traffic surfaces. It is to the latter area that the spray paint application system is aimed. Next, we must distinguish between the primary marking and the refreshing of existing markings, and for this, linear footage is a selection criterion: it can be said that beyond 200 parking spaces or 1,500 linear meters, airless type solutions are to be preferred, and are also essential when it comes to primary marking. Below this limit, Soppec DRIVER™ type carts are quite suitable, and even more when it comes to refreshing existing lines. The new Soppec line marking system is designed to go straight, fast, on smooth floors or outdoors.

In companies and communities, the buyers of the Soppec PureSPRAY system™ are the safety managers (QSE/SSE), maintenance managers, maintenance teams, condominium trustees,… The first function of line tracing is to comply with the obligation of prevention and safety to which the managers of the company are subject. Depending on the size of the company and its type of activity, this responsibility is delegated to the bodies representing the staff, and in particular the CSE (Social and Economic Committee).

There is a necessary but very fast learning: just give yourself a space of 10 m to travel with the cart without applying paint, and to pace your step to make this distance in about thirty seconds. In 1 or 2 round trips, the rhythm is taken. It is a fairly fast pace, but it allows you to be efficient during the application site, to immobilize the space as little time as possible and to facilitate the straightness of the line: let yourself be guided by the Soppec DRIVER™!

The system has been defined to neutralize the spray mist beyond the desired marking width. For a marking of 75 mm on smooth surface surface indoors, the residual mist does not exceed 5 mm.

Indeed, the Soppec PureSPRAY™ system was designed by studying the existing products on the market but especially by putting itself in the place of a user. Thanks to this we have developed a system that brings many benefits to users and guarantees a customer experience and performance significantly better than what existed before. The other systems we compared ourselves with are the market-leading systems currently, 2 well-known brands.

The SDSs are available on the website of our Quick FDS partner whose link follows https://www.quickfds.com/ then you indicate TECHNIMA and the language in which you want to obtain the document, and you find the sheet in the list. With this system, you are always sure to have the latest version of the document available.

The Soppec Tracing Pro floor marking paint was developed for the Soppec PureSPRAY™ system. The nozzle delivered on the aerosol guarantees a unique adaptation with the Soppec DRIVER trolley™ and this is what contributes to the quality of the marking because the paint flow is completely controlled and directed by a very stable and straight trolley on concrete or bitumen. The Tracing Pro is however usable on Soppec carts (ref. xxx and yyy) but the fit and maintenance of the nozzle is not optimized.

Indeed, the Soppec DRIVER™ trolley has been designed to be scalable and serve several types of floor marking. In fact, companies and communities often use paint marking and adhesive marking. The two are complementary, painting on the outside, adhesive on the inside, or paint for permanent marking and adhesive for temporary marking or Lean Management (5S). Very often, it is also the same people who take care of their application. The need for social distancing and safety signage demonstrates how topical these needs are. So yes, users of Soppec DRIVER™ trolleys will be able to convert it into an adhesive applicator, for strips of 50, 75 or 100 mm wide on smooth ground. This device will be available for sale in the second half of 2021, and will allow users to benefit from the most economical solution in Europe to apply both paint and adhesives in an efficient and professional way to their industrial or collective floors.

Soppec Tracing Pro paint is available in 21 languages. This allows our distributors and resellers who operate in several countries, or even throughout Europe, to manage only one stock.