Tabletops are one of those necessities that we may think we can do without but are actually vital to us in industrial, commercial and residential contexts alike. Although meals do not require a table to be eaten, a restaurant without tables would be a strange place indeed. Outside of the residential spectrum, office buildings must have table space for computers, phones and a center to create a meeting space around. Industrial contexts cannot get machining done without a variety of tabletop options available to steady the material being machined. Also, the medical field and other scientifically based industries rely heavily on tables for testing and examination. It is in these last two contexts that not only a table, but a positioning stage is necessary.

A positioning stage is a special kind of table that utilizes linear slides for easy maneuverability both up and down, back and forth. Scientific research companies and any number of medical contexts, as well as most industrial manufacturing companies require this moveable table to get their work done efficiently and easily. The sizes of the positioning stage and linear slides that operate them vary in size, anywhere from a microscope platform to the tabletop of a large industrial drilling machine.

The basic set up and mechanics of a positioning table involve a stationary base attached to a tabletop that is able to move by way of a mobile carriage on each side of the base, secured by linear bearings and raceways. The linear bearings function as friction reducers between the two moving parts, also removing some of the stress on both the base and moving tabletop. Drive mechanisms control the speed and direction of the movement and are usually either run by mechanical or electric power, depending on the context. Positioning stages can be very detailed and complex or very simple and straightforward, but either way they are an industrial necessity.