In the five-layer construction of a pressure-sensitive label — face stock, primer, adhesive, release coat, liner — the release liner is the only layer that is guaranteed to end up as waste. The brand owner specifies it, pays for it, ships it to the filling plant, and throws it away. From a cost-of-packaging perspective, this seems absurd. From a manufacturing perspective, it is essential.
The release liner's job is deceptively simple: hold the label construction together during printing, converting, and dispensing, then let go cleanly and consistently when the label is applied to the container. "Hold together" and "let go cleanly" are competing requirements, and the precise engineering of how the liner satisfies both — through controlled silicone coating chemistry applied to a precisely manufactured substrate — is the subject of this article.
The reason this matters practically: incorrect liner specification is one of the most common causes of label applicator downtime in Indian FMCG filling lines. A liner that is too stiff, too flexible, too heavy, too light, dimensionally unstable in the filling plant's humidity, or with wrong release force for the adhesive — any of these causes labels to misfeed, jam, or apply incorrectly. The downtime cost of a labelling line stoppage in a large FMCG filling operation can exceed ₹10–15 lakh per hour.
This article covers: what a release liner actually does and why it matters; silicone release coating chemistry; the paper liner family (glassine, kraft, clay-coated); PET film liners and when they are necessary; release force — the critical specification; a full comparison table; how to specify a liner correctly; suppliers in India; the liner waste and sustainability challenge; and what the industry knows but rarely tells you.
What a Release Liner Actually Does
A release liner has four distinct functions, and understanding each one clarifies why liner selection matters more than most buyers realise.
Function 1: Carrier during manufacturing. The PSA adhesive is coated onto the release liner — not onto the face stock — during labelstock manufacture. The liner carries the adhesive through the drying oven (for acrylic emulsion adhesives), cooling section (for hot-melt adhesives), and lamination to the face stock. The liner must withstand the heat, tension, and humidity of the coating process without distorting, curling, or breaking.
Function 2: Carrier during label converting. The printed and finished label reel runs through the die-cutting station, matrix removal, vision inspection, and rewinding on the liner web. The liner must maintain consistent tension and dimensional stability through all of these operations. A liner that stretches, contracts, or wrinkles under the tension of converting causes label pitch errors — the die cut does not align with the printed image, labels are scrap.
Function 3: Protection during storage and transport. The liner protects the adhesive face from contamination, drying, and blocking (labels sticking to the back of the label above them in the reel). It provides the structural rigidity of the reel — without the liner, a roll of adhesive-backed face stock would collapse on itself.
Function 4: Controlled dispensing. On the label applicator, the liner web passes over a peel plate (a sharp-edged deflector) at a precisely controlled angle and speed. As the liner bends sharply around the peel plate, the label — which is stiffer than the liner in the dispensing direction — separates from the liner and flies forward onto the container surface. The release force between liner and adhesive must be precisely calibrated for this to work: too high and the label refuses to separate from the liner; too low and labels spontaneously release in transit or before reaching the peel plate.
Every property of the liner — its stiffness, weight, thickness, moisture content, dimensional stability, and silicone release force — affects at least one of these four functions. Selecting a liner means balancing all four simultaneously for the specific application.
Silicone Release Coating: The Chemistry of Letting Go
The silicone release coating is the most technically sophisticated aspect of the liner. It is applied to the liner substrate in a liquid form — typically a platinum-catalysed addition-cure silicone or a UV-curable silicone — at coating weights of 0.5–2.5 g/m², and cured to a crosslinked film that is chemically bonded to the liner surface.
How silicone achieves controlled release
Silicone polymers (polysiloxanes) have uniquely low surface energy — approximately 20–25 dynes/cm for cured silicone, lower than almost any other solid surface. Because PSA adhesives require a minimum surface energy in the substrate to bond, and silicone is below this threshold, the adhesive bonds weakly to the silicone surface — enough to stay in place during storage and dispensing, but easily separable when the liner is peeled away.
The precise release force is controlled by three variables: the silicone polymer backbone (longer polymer chains = lower release force), the crosslink density of the cured silicone network (higher crosslink density = tighter network = lower release force, but reduced anchorage to the substrate), and the silicone coating weight (more silicone = lower release force, but higher cost and risk of silicone transfer). Liner manufacturers adjust these variables to produce release grades ranging from 4 cN/cm (ultra-easy release) to 200 cN/cm (tight release for applications requiring the liner to hold the label firmly during processing).
Silicone anchorage: the hidden failure mode
For silicone release coating to work correctly, it must be firmly anchored to the liner substrate. Silicone that is poorly anchored can transfer to the adhesive face — "silicone migration" or "silicone pickup" — contaminating the adhesive and permanently reducing its tack. A label with silicone-contaminated adhesive will not bond to the container surface, no matter how aggressive the adhesive formulation was originally.
Silicone anchorage is achieved by using coupling agents (typically reactive silanes that form chemical bonds between the silicone network and the substrate surface) and by selecting liner substrates with appropriate surface chemistry. Glassine paper, which has a smooth, dense, supercalendered surface, anchors silicone well. Rough, porous, or low-surface-energy substrates anchor silicone poorly and are prone to silicone migration.
The practical test for silicone anchorage is the FINAT FTM 11 test for subsequent adhesion — a label is applied to the silicone face of a liner, then transferred to a stainless steel panel and tested for peel adhesion. If the peel adhesion on the steel panel is significantly lower than the specification for the adhesive, silicone has transferred from the liner to the adhesive. This test should be part of incoming liner inspection for any high-value label application.
Paper Liners: Glassine, Kraft, and Clay-Coated
Paper liners are the most widely used liner type in India and globally, accounting for approximately 75% of all label liner by volume. Three paper grades are used as liner substrates, each with distinct properties.
PET Film Liners: When Paper Is Not Enough
The decision between paper and PET liner should be based on the precision requirements of the application, not on cost alone. For standard FMCG labels applied at 200–400 labels per minute in an ambient-temperature filling plant, paper glassine liner is entirely adequate and significantly less expensive. For pharmaceutical serialisation labels applied at ±0.3mm on a robotic labelling station, PET liner is not optional — paper liner will cause placement failures that compromise regulatory compliance.
A useful test: if your label applicator has a vision system that rejects labels with placement outside a defined tolerance, and you are experiencing reject rates above 0.5%, check your liner specification. Switching from glassine to PET liner is frequently the single change that brings reject rates below 0.1% on precision pharmaceutical lines.
Release Force: The Most Critical and Most Ignored Specification
Release force is the force required to separate the label (adhesive face) from the release liner, measured at a defined angle (typically 180°) and speed (typically 300mm/min). It is the single most important liner specification for applicator performance, and it is the most frequently unspecified parameter in Indian label purchase orders.
<3
3–8
8–20
20–50
>50
What happens when release force is wrong
Release force too low (below 4 cN/cm): Labels release spontaneously from the liner during reel storage, shipping, or before reaching the peel plate on the applicator. This is called "flagging" — labels lifting from the liner and sticking to adjacent surfaces. Flagging causes label jams, misapplication, and reel waste. It is most commonly caused by aggressive adhesives paired with an insufficiently matched silicone release grade — the adhesive is too strong for the silicone's release level.
Release force too high (above 25 cN/cm for standard applicators): Labels refuse to separate cleanly from the liner at the peel plate. The label follows the liner around the peel plate instead of flying forward onto the container. This causes misapplication, wrinkled labels, and applicator jams. High release force is typically caused by incorrect silicone grade for the adhesive, under-cured silicone coating (insufficient platinum catalyst or UV dose), or silicone-contaminated adhesive reducing effective adhesive tack.
Release force inconsistent within a reel: Variation in release force within a single reel — caused by coating weight variation or cure variation during liner manufacturing — produces inconsistent dispensing behaviour. On a standard automatic applicator, the motor maintains constant liner speed. If release force varies, the force required to separate labels varies, causing labels to arrive at the container surface at slightly different times — resulting in placement variation and possible vision system rejects.
Measuring release force correctly
Release force is measured by FINAT FTM 3 (equivalent to PSTC-4). The test requires a label strip to be applied to the liner face of the construction being tested, then the label peeled from the liner at 180° and 300mm/min on a tensile tester. The result in cN/cm is the release force. The measurement must be done after a defined dwell time — typically 20 minutes — because release force increases slightly with dwell time as the adhesive flows slightly into the silicone surface texture.
Temperature affects release force significantly. A liner with standard release force at 23°C may show 40–50% higher release force at 5°C (cold storage environment) as the adhesive stiffens. For cold-chain and cold-fill applications, always test release force at the application temperature, not just ambient.
Liner Type Comparison: Quick Reference
| Liner Type | Moisture Stability | Dimensional Stability | Typical Weight | Cost | Best Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glassine 60 g/m² | ◑ Moderate | ◑ Good ambient | 60 g/m² | ₹ Low | Standard FMCG, food, retail labels |
| Glassine 78 g/m² | ◑ Moderate | ◑ Good ambient | 78 g/m² | ₹ Low-medium | Standard labels requiring more stiffness |
| Glassine 90 g/m² | ◑ Moderate | ◑ Good ambient | 90 g/m² | ₹₹ Medium | Heavier labelstocks, precision dispensing |
| Kraft 80 g/m² (CCK) | ◑ Moderate | ◑ Good ambient | 80 g/m² | ₹₹ Medium | Logistics, shipping, heavy labels |
| Kraft 120 g/m² | ◑ Moderate | ✓ Good | 120 g/m² | ₹₹ Medium | Large format, complex die-cut shapes |
| PET 23 micron | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Excellent | ~32 g/m² | ₹₹₹₹ High | High-speed pharma, electronics labels |
| PET 36 micron | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Excellent | ~50 g/m² | ₹₹₹₹ High | Precision placement, ±0.3mm tolerance |
| PET 75 micron | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Excellent | ~105 g/m² | ₹₹₹₹₹ Very high | Industrial, heavy-duty, die-cut processing |
How to Specify a Liner in a Purchase Order
Most Indian label purchase orders specify the liner by a single word: "glassine" or sometimes just by the total construction caliper. A complete liner specification protects against the most common problems — dimensional instability in the filling plant, wrong release force for the applicator, and silicone contamination of the adhesive.
| Parameter | What to specify | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Liner substrate | Glassine / kraft / PET film; bleached or unbleached; single or double silicone | Substrate determines stiffness, moisture stability, and silicone anchorage |
| Liner basis weight | g/m² with tolerance (e.g., 78 g/m² ± 4 g/m²) | Weight determines stiffness and reel capacity |
| Liner caliper | Microns with tolerance (e.g., 78 micron ± 4 micron for standard glassine) | Caliper affects applicator tension settings and label count per reel |
| Release force | cN/cm range (e.g., 8–15 cN/cm at 180°, 300mm/min, 23°C — FINAT FTM 3) | Must match applicator peel plate design and adhesive tack |
| Subsequent adhesion | Minimum % retention of original peel adhesion after liner contact (FINAT FTM 11) | Detects silicone migration to adhesive — key quality parameter |
| Reel width | mm with tolerance (e.g., 320mm ± 1mm) | Must match converting equipment and applicator reel guides |
| Core diameter | Internal diameter in mm (standard: 76mm, 152mm) | Must match applicator mandrel specification |
| Wind direction | Wound-in (silicone face out) or wound-out (silicone face in) | Must match applicator configuration — wrong direction = unusable reel |
Release Liner Suppliers in India
Release liners reach the Indian market primarily as part of complete labelstock constructions from Avery Dennison India and UPM Raflatac India. For brand owners, specifying the liner type within these constructions is the practical lever available. For labelstock converters who coat their own constructions, raw release liner is sourced separately from liner manufacturers through their India distribution networks.
Mondi Group
Mondi is one of the world's largest producers of silicone release liners, supplying both glassine and kraft liner substrates. Their Silicone Release Liners range covers 60–140 g/m² glassine and kraft grades for standard label applications. India distribution is through paper merchants in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, with supply from their European manufacturing facilities (primarily Germany, Austria, and Poland). Mondi's India distributor network can provide technical data sheets and samples on request. Website: mondigroup.com.
Loparex
Loparex is a specialist release liner manufacturer supplying both paper and PET film liners globally. Their India presence is through authorised distributors — for PET film liners specifically, Loparex is a key supplier to the pharmaceutical and electronics label markets in India. Their technical team can advise on silicone grade selection for specific adhesive and application combinations. Website: loparex.com.
Itasa (International Tapes)
Itasa (Spain) specialises in silicone release liners for demanding industrial and medical applications. Their liners are used in pharmaceutical patch labelling, medical device labels, and high-performance industrial labels where silicone coating quality and release force consistency are critical. Available in India through specialty chemical and material distributors. Website: itasa.com.
BillerudKorsnäs (now Billerud)
BillerudKorsnäs (now trading as Billerud after the merger with Korsnäs) is a leading producer of bleached kraft liner substrate used for label liners. They supply liner base paper (pre-silicone coating) to silicone coating companies, who then apply the release coating and sell the finished liner. Their MG Kraft Liner grade is widely used as the substrate for CCK liners in logistics and heavy-duty label applications. India supply through paper merchants and importers. Website: billerud.com.
Polyplex Corporation (PET film liner substrate)
Polyplex Corporation (Bazpur, Uttarakhand) is India's significant PET film manufacturer and produces PET film used as liner substrate for high-precision label applications. Their PET film is supplied to silicone coating companies who produce finished PET release liners. For converters sourcing PET liner substrate domestically, Polyplex is a key contact. Website: polyplex.com. Plant: Bazpur, Uttarakhand 244712.
Liner Waste and Sustainability
Release liner waste is the packaging industry's most visible sustainability problem. In a standard label construction, the liner accounts for 35–50% of the total construction weight. Every reel of labels produces a reel of liner waste at the filling plant — silicone-coated paper or PET film that cannot be recycled through standard streams and goes to landfill or incineration.
For large Indian FMCG operations applying 50–100 million labels per year, this generates tens of tonnes of liner waste annually. A ₹12,000 crore label market means a liner waste stream of approximately 150,000–200,000 tonnes per year — the majority of which is currently landfilled in India.
Why liner waste is difficult to solve
The silicone coating on the liner — the very thing that makes it functional — is what makes it difficult to recycle. Silicone contamination in a paper recycling stream causes problems in the repulping process; silicone-coated PET is incompatible with standard PET bottle recycling (the silicone is not separated at current Indian recycling sortation facilities). The liner waste problem cannot be solved simply by collecting and recycling the liner — the material requires dedicated processing.
Current solutions and their status in India
Liner recycling programmes: Avery Dennison's EarthFirst programme and UPM Raflatac's RafCycle programme collect used liners from large filling operations and route them to dedicated recycling facilities. RafCycle operates in India, with collection points at major pharmaceutical and FMCG operations in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The recycled material from glassine liners is used in tissue paper and packaging paper production — the silicone coating burns off in the repulping process at high temperature without contaminating the recovered fibre. Contact UPM Raflatac India to enrol in their RafCycle programme.
Linerless labels: The most radical solution is to eliminate the liner entirely. Linerless labels coat the face stock back with silicone and dispense from a roll without a carrier liner. This eliminates 35–50% of the construction weight and all liner waste. Linerless labels are used in European food retail (fresh food pricing labels, bakery labels) and are entering the Indian market. The limitation is equipment compatibility — linerless labels require specifically configured applicators, and most existing Indian filling lines cannot run linerless without equipment modification or replacement.
Thinner liners: An incremental improvement — reducing liner basis weight from 78 g/m² to 60 g/m² reduces liner waste by approximately 23% without any equipment or process change. This is the easiest and fastest sustainability improvement available to Indian FMCG companies currently using heavy liner grades. Check with your labelstock supplier whether a thinner liner is compatible with your applicator before switching.
The Unspoken Industry Knowledge
India has no national standard for label reel winding direction. Converters wind reels in whatever direction their equipment produces, and this is often not marked on the reel. When a brand owner switches label supplier, the new converter frequently winds in the opposite direction from the previous supplier. The result: the reel is loaded onto the applicator, runs backward relative to the peel plate, and the first 20 labels jam or misapply before the operator realises what has happened. The fix is to specify winding direction (wound-in or wound-out, label dispensing from left or right of the web) in every purchase order, and to mark this requirement on the incoming reel inspection checklist.
Most Indian FMCG filling plants are not climate-controlled. In coastal cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi — relative humidity during monsoon regularly exceeds 85%. Glassine paper liner absorbs moisture from the air at this humidity, expanding in the cross direction by 0.3–0.5% and softening slightly. For a label reel that was converted at 50% RH, this moisture expansion changes the label pitch and affects the reel tension profile. Labels that dispensed perfectly at the converter's facility at 50% RH may dispense with pitch errors at the filling plant at 85% RH. The solution is to store label reels in humidity-controlled conditions (45–55% RH) and to condition reels in the filling plant environment for at least 4 hours before loading. PET liner eliminates this problem entirely.
Silicone migration from liner to adhesive is a real failure mode that is almost never tested for in India. When silicone transfers from the liner surface to the adhesive face — caused by poor silicone anchorage, aggressive adhesive, elevated temperature, or extended storage — the adhesive tack permanently decreases. Labels from a reel that has been stored in a warm warehouse for 6 months may fail adhesion tests that the same labels passed when first produced. The test is simple (FINAT FTM 11 subsequent adhesion) and takes 24 hours. It should be part of any long-shelf-life label incoming inspection. The acceptable threshold is 90% or more of original peel adhesion retained after liner contact.
India-Specific Context
The heat and humidity dual challenge
India's climate presents liner performance challenges from two opposing directions. In North India summer (Delhi, Rajasthan), warehouse temperatures exceed 45°C — hot conditions that can cause paper liner to yellow, become brittle, and in extreme cases, cause the silicone release coating to partially cure further, increasing release force and causing dispensing problems on automatic applicators. In coastal India during monsoon, high humidity causes paper liner to absorb moisture, swell, and go limp — the opposite problem.
The specification response is straightforward: specify glassine liner with tight moisture content tolerance (5–7% moisture at time of delivery) for coastal applications, and request that reels be moisture-conditioned before dispatch. For critical pharmaceutical or high-speed applications in any climate, PET liner eliminates both problems.
The pharmaceutical sector driving PET liner adoption
India's pharmaceutical industry is the primary driver of PET liner adoption in the Indian market. The reason is twofold: precision requirements and regulatory documentation. Pharmaceutical labelling regulations (Schedule M, WHO GMP) require label placement accuracy that paper liner cannot reliably deliver in India's climate conditions. And regulatory submissions for export markets (US FDA, EU EMA) require documentation of packaging material specifications — including liner material and quality parameters — that is easily provided for PET liner with its consistent, documented properties, and more difficult to provide for paper liner where moisture-induced variability is acknowledged.
EPR and the liner waste gap
India's EPR regulations under the Plastic Waste Management Rules cover plastic packaging materials. PET release liners fall under this framework as plastic packaging. Paper glassine and kraft liners with silicone coating are in a regulatory grey area — the paper base is biodegradable but the silicone coating is not, and there is no specific EPR category for silicone-coated paper in the current Indian rules. Brand owners should consult with their EPR compliance advisors on whether liner waste (both paper and PET) is included in their EPR tonnage calculations — the current CPCB guidance is evolving on this point.
What to ask your converter
Most Indian label converters buy complete labelstock constructions from Avery Dennison or UPM Raflatac and do not select liners independently. They can provide the liner grade from the labelstock manufacturer's data sheet. Four questions worth asking before approving a new label supply:
- What is the liner substrate type and basis weight in the construction you are supplying?
- What is the release force specification (cN/cm, test method, dwell time)?
- What is the reel winding direction, and can you mark it on every reel?
- Is liner recycling collection available through UPM RafCycle or Avery Dennison EarthFirst for our plant location?
Liner specification as a cost lever
Liner selection is also a cost lever that is rarely used by Indian brand owners. The liner accounts for approximately 25–40% of total labelstock cost. Moving from a 90 g/m² glassine liner to a 60 g/m² glassine liner — where the applicator can handle the lighter weight — reduces labelstock cost by approximately 8–12% on the liner component alone. Moving from a 78 g/m² glassine to a 45 g/m² ultra-thin glassine (available in certain Avery Dennison constructions) enables significantly more labels per reel at the same outer diameter — reducing reel change frequency on high-speed lines, which directly reduces production downtime.
The constraint on liner downgauging is the applicator. Every automatic label applicator has a minimum liner stiffness requirement — the liner must be rigid enough to run through the web path and peel plate without excessive flutter or web break. Most applicator manufacturers publish minimum liner basis weight requirements for their equipment. Check these specifications before requesting a thinner liner — but do not assume the current liner is already at the minimum. In many Indian operations, the liner specification was set years ago for an older, more conservative applicator and has never been reviewed since.
Silicone coating as a regulatory material
The silicone release coating on a label liner is technically a chemical that contacts the adhesive face of the label, which in turn contacts the container, which in turn may contain food or pharmaceutical product. The migration pathway from liner silicone to product is indirect but exists: silicone that migrates from the liner to the adhesive may subsequently migrate from the adhesive to the container surface and into the product.
For most applications, the migration risk from silicone is negligible — cured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicones are toxicologically inert and have very low migration tendency. However, residual uncured silicone monomers or platinum catalyst from the coating process represent a more significant migration concern. Major liner manufacturers use platinum-catalysed addition-cure silicones where the curing reaction is essentially complete, leaving negligible residual reactive material. UV-cured silicones avoid platinum entirely but may contain photoinitiator residues.
For pharmaceutical and food labels where complete traceability of all materials in the packaging system is required, the liner manufacturer should be able to provide a regulatory statement covering the silicone chemistry used — whether platinum-catalysed addition-cure or UV-curable, and confirmation of the platinum content in the cured film. This documentation is available from Mondi, Loparex, and Itasa on request for their commercial liner grades.
Liner defects and what causes them
Like any manufactured material, release liners can have defects that are not immediately visible but cause problems in converting or dispensing. Understanding the common defect types helps converters and brand owners specify incoming quality checks and reject criteria.
Silicone coating voids and holidays: Areas of the liner where the silicone coating is absent or very thin. In these spots, the adhesive bonds strongly to the unprotected paper substrate rather than weakly to silicone, creating a high-release-force zone. When a label passes over a holiday on the applicator, the elevated peel force at that point can cause a web break or label jam. Silicone voids are caused by contamination of the paper surface before coating, coating head drips, or silicone coverage variation in the coating process. Detection requires running a strip of high-tack adhesive tape along the liner surface and measuring peel force variation — uniform silicone shows uniform low force; holidays show high local peaks.
Caliper variation: Non-uniform liner thickness across the web width or along the machine direction. On high-speed label presses, caliper variation causes tension variation in the liner web, leading to label pitch errors and possible label misregister. Paper liner caliper typically varies ±3–5 micron in standard grades; premium grades and PET liners hold ±1–2 micron. For precision pharmaceutical applications, specify maximum liner caliper variation as part of the incoming material specification.
Curl: Release liners can develop curl — one side bowing relative to the other — due to moisture imbalance between the silicone-coated side and the uncoated back, or due to stress relaxation during reel storage. A curled liner causes labels to dish (the edges lift slightly from the liner face), which can cause label dispense failures on certain applicator types. Curl is measured by the FINAT FTM 15 test — a 100mm × 100mm sample is conditioned and allowed to curl freely; the height of the curl arc is measured. Acceptable curl for standard label applications is typically less than 10mm under standard FINAT test conditions.
Blocking in the reel: In hot conditions, the adhesive face of one label can bond slightly to the liner back of the label above it in the reel — "blocking." This is caused by hot-melt adhesive softening at storage temperature, insufficient anti-block treatment on the back of the face stock, or inadequate release force (the adhesive is too aggressive for the silicone release level). Blocking causes labels to be pulled from the reel in groups rather than individually, causing applicator jams. Prevention: specify acrylic PSA rather than hot-melt for products stored in hot environments, and verify the liner back has appropriate surface treatment to resist blocking.
Incoming quality inspection for release liners in a professional label converting operation should include: visual inspection of both faces for coating defects and contamination; caliper spot-check at five points across the web width; release force measurement at the web centre and edges; and a blocking test (reel sample conditioned at 40°C for 24 hours, then checked for label-to-liner-back adhesion). This inspection protocol takes approximately 45 minutes per incoming reel lot and prevents the majority of production-time liner failures. For high-volume operations running multiple shifts, a documented incoming inspection procedure with pass/fail criteria and batch records is the difference between a professional label operation and one that discovers liner defects on the production line rather than in the goods-in bay. The total cost of a documented liner incoming inspection programme — the time, the equipment (a basic tensile tester and caliper gauge), and the test materials — is recoverable in a single prevented production stoppage.