As someone else has mentioned, NW prints all your flights onto a single boarding card. I think I have also seen them issue a single boarding card for more than one passenger travelling on the same PNR.

I remember as far back as 2002 NZ were putting connecting domestic flights on a single boarding card with a perforated stub so they could just remove one section at a time.

Also, LH have self service boarding on short haul flights from FRA and MUC:
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...en&cid=1000390
This also works with barcodes downloaded onto mobiles and Blackberries. When you add this to the IRIS-style outbound passport control in Germany (at least at FRA - http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...21&cid=1000263 ), and to the automated baggage drops they operate (http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...0390#ancN65662) it means the only people you have to interact with at the airport are the security staff. Of course if you are 0.01kg overweight or one second late for the flight, there is no leeway, which is what I find to be the major disadvantage of automating everything in what is supposed to be a customer-service-focussed industry.