Palletisation efficiency as a criterion for product design

The paper is concerned with the question of how implications for palletisation efficiency may be taken into account in the product/packaging design process. The perspective from which this topic is approached is the reverse of that usually adopted: rather than dealing with an evaluation of pre-determined design alternatives, the paper considers the problem of identifying the options open to the designer if a given palletisation efficiency target is to be achieved. In addition to a number of algorithmic issues various practical aspects of the problem are also discussed. The results of two case studies provide a concrete frame of reference throughout the paper.