In Supply Chain Management:

Part $($a$)$

Why would a company's costs of manufacturing and procurement tend to increase as the firm changes from a Make$-$to$-$stock $($MTS$)$ to a Make$-$to$-$order $($MTO$)$ strategy? Why would inventory costs tend to decrease?

Part $($b$)$

Customer$-$based inventory management strategies allow the use of different availability levels for specific customers. Discuss the rationale for such a strategy. Are such strategies discriminatory? Justify your position.