For a packed bed in a distillation column, f(max) is the maximum fractional liquid maldistribution that can be tolerated in a parallel column model whilst still being able to achieve the design separation. It was previously shown that f(max) can be easily calculated from a conventional column simulation output and it is a measure of the sensitivity of a packed bed to maldistribution. In this paper, f(max) is applied to examples taken from air separation and ethylbenzene-styrene distillation. Using air separation plant data, it is shown that design separation shortfalls can be correlated against f(max). When f(max) < 0.05, it is extremely difficult to achieve the design separation. A case study is given where f(max) was increased from a very low value by splitting the bed, thereby achieving the design separation. Application of f(max) to ethylbenzene-styrene distillation leads to the conclusion that two and four packed beds should be used in the rectifying and stripping sections, respectively. By varying the number of stages in the beds in the stripping section to equalize the sensitivity to maldistribution, it is shown that it may be possible to use only three beds in future designs.