SAP MII vs SAP ME

SAP MI & SAP ME are both parts of SAP Manufacturing. If you’re not sure what SAP is at a high-level, check out my What is SAP? post.

What is SAP MII?

SAP MII stands for Manufacturing Integration Intelligence. This is a product that lets companies design their own MES software in a completely customizable way with loads of integration options & features. While MII is fantastic for integration, it is a very complex solution and does require more development work than SAP ME.

How is Development done in SAP MII?

SAP MII developers have to create their PODS from scratch (Production Operator Dashboards) for shop floor personnel.

SAP MII Workbench is the IDE of SAP MII Development. Tasks are written & executed in BLS (Business Logic Service) Transactions that are connected to the front of a .irpt page (SAP MII’s rendering of a web page) and also can connect to SAP itself using BAPI calls while integrating with machines in PCo (Plant Connectivity) at the same time.

What is SAP ME?

SAP ME stands for SAP Manufacturing Execution. This is different from SAP MII because SAP ME is a fully-fledged MES suite. SAP ME Comes with a lot of out-of-the-box features which typically would require a development from MII. This being said, when a company purchases ME, MII Comes with it for integration. So ME Developers also use SAP MII for some parts of integration & testing.

How is Development done in SAP ME?

SAP ME development is done with out-of-box customizing of PODs & includes a host of other out-of-box features that MII developers would typically have to develop themselves such as creating NC (Non-Conformance) Codes, dealing with TSM (Time-sensitive materials).

One very important point about SAP ME is that it is very good for discrete manufacturing industries like automotive manufacturing. This is because the POD’s are supportive of those industries. For industries that require more niche routing processes, MII would be a better choice.