https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Klarner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Klarner When I was in school Dr Klarner was looking into that exact probl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Klarner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Klarner When I was in school Dr Klarner was looking into that exact problem. He had it pretty well dialed in on 2d. Once you move to 3d though it becomes a strange problem as what was once optimal for 2d may no longer be in 3d. In practical terms though time/speed is usually more important in packing. For example you may have optimal packing but it takes 10 hours to physically pack it out is not great. Optimal load size is usually better if you have fixed size packages that interlock in some known pattern or are willing to allow some slack.