Ed Wodarski is a Service Parts Planning (SPM) expert for Servigistics with a special focus on the commercial aviation ecosystem. Ed has over 36 years of experience in SPM software design, deployment and sales support. Starting his career at Xerox in 1981 as a part of the design team for the first bespoke global parts planning system, Ed is widely acknowledged as an industry founder. He later then designed the first commercial offering for LPA/Xelus which has since been incorporated into the Servigistics platform. Ed has also been a Senior Executive at Accenture consulting globally on parts planning best practices. At PTC, Ed has worked closely with a number of leading aviation enterprises including Boeing, Aviall, JetBlue, and Southwest.
At the Service Council’s Smarter Services Executive Symposium, attendees packed the room to hear from a panel of industry leaders about one of the most advanced—and misunderstood—capabilities in service supply chain management: multi-echelon optimization (MEO).
Leading the discussion was Ed Wodarski, a true pioneer with more than 44 years of experience in service parts management. Ed has witnessed the evolution of optimization strategies firsthand—from statistical safety stock to single-item to multi-item approaches—and he underscored why MEO stands apart as a breakthrough that redefines what’s possible.
What is multi-echelon optimization?
Ed began by simplifying a complex subject: While many solutions claim “optimization,” only true MEO simultaneously evaluates every part, at every location, across the entire network. Instead of overstocking each node in isolation, MEO identifies where inventory delivers the greatest service impact per dollar.
The results speak volumes: benchmark studies consistently show that Servigistics MEO can deliver the same service levels with up to 35% less inventory than traditional ERP planning and the use of narrow point solutions or homegrown tools. As Ed put it, “MEO doesn’t just balance costs and availability—it shifts the exchange curve so you can achieve both.”
Ed’s decades of insight positioned him not only as a teacher, but as a trusted guide demystifying the next era of AI-driven service planning. He emphasized how Servigistics is integrating agentic AI to automate planner tasks, simulate scenarios, and deliver even greater availability and resilience.
Aviation insights: aggregating value across the network
Alex Fazzini, Senior Sourcing Analyst, shared a perspective from the aviation sector on how organizations can get the most from multi-echelon optimization. He highlighted a common challenge: Sites often reorder the same parts independently, sometimes at different price points, leading to unnecessary spend and inefficiencies.
By aggregating demand and coordinating purchases across the network, airlines and aviation service providers can reduce costs and improve buying power. Alex also pointed to the value of network-wide visibility: What appears to be surplus inventory at one location might actually fulfill a need elsewhere. Leveraging MEO makes it possible to redeploy parts intelligently, maximizing working capital while ensuring availability where it matters most.
Extending visibility with service supply chain expertise
Adding a consulting and technology perspective, Mike Kerstein, Chief Product Officer at Accenture (formerly OnProcess), highlighted the importance of data visibility in powering MEO.
Accenture has developed connectors that integrate field data, returns, repairs, and forward stocking location visibility directly into Servigistics. This enables organizations to account for repairable inventory cycles and the true time to availability of critical parts.
“MEO works best when data flows seamlessly across providers,” Mike explained. “Our connectors ensure consistency and give service organizations the insight they need to make faster, smarter decisions in partnership with PTC.”
The bigger picture: a differentiator for service leaders
The panel reinforced that MEO is not just a technical upgrade—it’s a strategic differentiator for service organizations operating complex, global networks.
- It enables smarter aggregation and redeployment of parts for companies in aviation, defense, high tech, medical devices, industrial equipment, and automotive
- For consulting leaders like Accenture, it’s about strengthening data-driven visibility
- For OEMs under pressure to deliver uptime and resilience, MEO transforms probabilistic demand into actionable, network-wide strategies, turning uncertainty into competitive advantage
In an era where uptime, cost control, and customer commitments define service excellence, true multi-echelon optimization is the gold standard.
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Servigistics revolutionizes service supply chain optimization with purpose-built industrial AI innovations.
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