data may include a master data identifier id that is defined by the user or mdm process 102 in a step 204 a surrogate id may be defined by the data warehouse 104 and associated with the master data the master data created in the data warehouse 104 is deemed to u201c exist u201d at this point in a step 206 one or more key figures i e facts such as sales figures production quantities and so on may be assigned to the master data based on information comprising the business plan e g expected revenue figures from a sales projection plan or expected materials cost from a parts requirement projection plan and so on the master data may cycle back to step 206 for the assignment of additional key figures for the plan this does not change the u2018 existence u2019 of the master data in a step 208 attributes in the master data may be maintained for example changes in existing attributes e g t shirt size color may need to be made in the master data based on information comprising the business plan mdm services may be called to ensure that the attribute settings comply to the rules defined in the mdm remark an arrow needs to be added in fig2 from 208 to 242 the master data may cycle back to steps 206 and 208 for one or more iterations in order to revise update and otherwise maintain the master data in embodiments the master data may be initially designated to be u201c user local u201d this designation means that the master data is accessible.