A materials efficiency variance can be caused by all of the following except: Actual output volume of the period (i.e., units produced). Performance of the workers in using the materials. Quality of the materials. Skill level of the workers using the materials. Inadequate employee supervision. A standard gets progressively tighter over time: Peak-efficiency. Currently attainable. Benchmarked. Flexible-budget. Continuous-improvement. A total variable cost variance (such as for direct materials) can be broken down into separate variances that evaluate: Price and efficiency. Units and cost. Volume and productivity. Sales-volume versus sales-mix effects. Efforts and results. Which of the following benefits is not typically associated with a move to a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing system? Raw materials are delivered as close as possible to time of production. Existence of long-term contracts with selected suppliers. Reduction in employee training and education costs. Decreases in manufacturing lead time. Improved customer-response time (CRT). For control purposes, it is usually preferable to calculate the materials price variance: At point of purchase (i.e., when the materials are purchased). At point of production (i.e., when the materials are issued to production). At the end of the accounting period. Only if the materials quantity variance is significant in amount. Only if it is controllable by operating managers