What's My Line?

Electronic line shafts do provide a little more versatility in that stations can be run at different speeds, agrees Chris Popp, sales manager for Diequa Corp. He estimates, however, that 90 percent of the time printers stick with running stations at the same speed.

Moreover, Popp believes mechanical line shafts are still preferable in many cases, particularly to narrow-web package printers, because they are more predictable in terms of performance and maintenance.