You can use base planning objects for the following purposes:

• At the beginning of the planning phase
• When you are at the draft stage of planning new products and services
• When there is no master data in the R/3 System (material master, BOM, routing, master recipe)
• When you want to change existing material cost estimates

You can also access existing data in the R/3 System when you are creating base planning objects. This data includes materials and material cost estimates, internal activities, services, cost centers, cost elements and activity types, work centers, and other base planning objects.