Those "cam lock" nuts are a good solution. I've marveled at the evolution of surface clamping for woodworking. Early on was the really cool adaptation of T-track slots as used in large metal machining tools. Just slide in the nut from the end of the track and you can lock down anywhere along the track. Then enough people got tired of feeding the nuts from the end and the popularity of the drop-in styles took hold.

Only thing I can think of that is "better" are vacuums or magnetics but it really all depends on the properties of the material being secured (and the budget)