Amalgamated Crankshafts Limited's standards anticipate that there will be 3 kilograms (kg) of steel used for every crankshaft produced. Amalgamated Crankshafts Limited (ACL) began the month of May with 5,000kg of steel, purchased 15,000kg for $195,000 and ended the month with 4,000kg on hand. The company produced 5,000 crankshafts. The company estimates the standard cost of steel to be $15 per kilogram. Required: (a) Calculate the raw materials price and quantity variances for May at ACL. Indicate whether the variances are favourable or unfavourable. (4 marks) (b) Provide the journal entries that record the purchase of the raw materials, the placement of raw materials into production, and the recording of the variances calculated in (a) above. Narrations are not required. (2 marks) (c) In a production environment, why should the calculation of variance analyses be based on flexible budgets rather than static budgets? (2 marks) (d) Benchmarking has nothing to do with variance analysis. Do you agree with this statement? Explain. (2 marks)