Pancake
Pancake turns up in 2 fields: nonwovens, building. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Pancake in nonwovens
Shop word for a narrow slit roll wound straight on itself, far wider in diameter than it is tall.
Pancakes are the simplest way to package slit strips, with each lane wound on its own core, but a narrow pancake holds limited length and can collapse or telescope if handled roughly. They are common for wider slit widths and for converters without spool or festoon unwinds. Store them flat and lift them by the core to avoid dished rolls.
"Pancakes on the 40 millimeter lane are telescoping on the pallet, we should be spooling that one."
Pancake in building
The progressive structural collapse of a building where floors fall flat upon one another.
Pancaking occurs when a building's load-bearing vertical supports fail, causing the floors to collapse downward and stack flat on top of each other. In demolition, engineers sometimes intentionally trigger a pancake collapse using explosives. In accidental structural failures, it is a catastrophic event that leaves very little void space.
"If we don't shore up those compromised columns on the second deck, the whole structure could pancake."