...and picked up Operations Management: Contemporary Concepts and Cases,by Roger G. Schroeder. My objective: to read this modern, introductory text used by the Carlson School of Management and apply its principles to the question of large scale IT infrastructure management ("MRP for IT"). Why did I choose this book? Because 1) it looked good, 2) it was convenient, and 3) the author's office is a mile from my house and I can go knock on his door if I need to (I think). 

After some online research, l also picked up Manufacturing Planning & Control Systems for Supply Chain Management: The Definitive Guide for Professionals, Fifth Edition, by Thomas E. Vollmann et al. This book is a preparatory text forAPICS certification. It also led me to an older work, Production and Inventory Management by Fogarty et al, which I got used for $4.

The Goal of course is a notable manufacturing novel. But what underlies it? What is the actual Theory of Constraints? I am hoping that Breaking the Constraints to World-Class Performance by H. William Dettmer will give me further understanding in this area. 

A couple years back, I picked up Orlicky's Material Requirements Planning by George Plossl; this was back when I was just getting my head around ERP for IT and I wanted the earliest material I could find. This still appears to be a highly regarded work. 

Finally, just for fun, I picked up another manufacturing novel: All I Need to Know about Manufacturing I Learned in Joe's Garage, by Miller & Schenk. 

Anything else I should be reading?

-ctb