Plackett-Burman experimental design is used to identify the most important factors early in the experimentation phase when complete knowledge about the system is usually unavailable. Developed in 1946 by statisticians Robin L. Plackett and J.P. Burman, it is an efficient screening method to identify the active factors using as few experimental runs as possible.
In Plackett-Burman designs, main effects have a complicated confounding relationship with two-factor interactions. Therefore, these designs should be used to study main effects when it can be assumed that two-way interactions are negligible.