Martha$$s Vineyard Marine Supply is a wholesaler for a large variety of boating and fishing equipment. The company$$s controller, Mathew Knight, has recently completed a cost study of the firm$$s material$-$handling department. Knight used work measurement to quantify the department$$s activity. The control factor unit used in the work$-$measurement study was hundreds of pounds of equipment unloaded or loaded at the company$$s loading dock. Knight compiled the following data.

Month Units of Activity $($hundreds of pounds of equipment loaded or unloaded$)$ Material$-$Handling Department Costs

January $2,900$ $ $12,800$

February $2,70012,400$

March $2,40011,800$

April $2,10011,300$

May $3,30012,200$

June $3,50014,200$

July $3,10013,100$

August $2,90012,500$

September $3,70013,440$

October $2,20011,600$

November $2,30012,450$

December $2,50012,450$Construct an Excel spreadsheet and use the Excel commands to perform a least$-$squares regression. Estimate the variable$-$ and fixed$-$cost components in the company$$s material$-$handling department costs.Complete the least$-$squares regression equation for the department$$s costs.Predict the firm$$s material$-$handling department$$s costs for a month when $2,800$ units of activity are recorded.Which cost method do you recommend?