Patent ID: 7680720

Claim:
A computer system for making multiple life cycle plans, comprising: a user interface including data entry elements for receiving life cycle planning data from a user and displaying plan results to the user; a processor to execute a planning engine, coupled to the user interface, and to perform the steps of: allocating the planning data to a plurality of items, each item having at least one variable, and each item configurable to indicate whether the item is active or inactive in each of a plurality of life cycle plans, the plurality of life cycle plans comprising a first life cycle plan associated with a first goal and a second life cycle plan associated with a second goal; determining a plan result for each of the plurality of life cycle plans using only the items that are active in the life cycle plan, each of the plurality of life cycle plans associated with a common item of the plurality of items; determining an updated value for an item variable of the common item, wherein a single copy of the common item is accessed for use in each of the first plan and the second plan; determining a first updated plan result for the first life cycle plan according to the updated value for the item variable of the common item, the first updated plan result specifying whether the first goal is achieved; and determining a second updated plan result for the second life cycle plan according to the updated value for the item variable of the common item, the second updated plan result specifying whether the second goal is achieved; and a storage device to store the plurality of items, wherein a single copy of the common item is accessed on the storage device for use in each of the plurality of life cycle plans.