Patent US 7,752,144

A system and method for determining a total ownership cost associated with a complex system (or a component thereof) includes a multi-disciplinary environment including at least one tool, a product data manager, and a total ownership costs assessment tools. The tools in the multi-disciplinary environment are used to gather information regarding the complex system. The product data manager receives the information from the tools and organizes the information as an information model representing the complex system. The total ownership cost assessment tool extracts various system and related scheduling aspects from the information model and determines the total ownership cost associated with the complex system (or the component thereof).