Prest Metal Products manufactures and sells various products. The products are manufactured at one of a few plants (depending on the product) and then shipped to a distribution center for eventual delivery to customers. The Auburn Distribution Center (ADC) of Prest Metal Products handles a subset of Prest Products. The products handled by the ADC are fairly similar in size and weight and differ primarily in features that do not affect handling or packaging.

When the sales staff at Prest receives an order, they send it to the appropriate distribution center to fill (collect units and package for shipping) and ship the units to the customer. A single order may consist of one (although unusual) or more units. Regardless of the number of units in the order, ADC has to follow certain steps to process the order, such as verifying the customer's address and credit information, review the order for errors, and so on. The ADC is also responsible for following up on any complaints from the customer about problems with the order.

The ADC expects to distribute 250,000 units of products next month. As a part of the normal planning process at ADC, the center controller has classified next month's expected operating costs (excluding costs of the distributed product) as fixed or variable (with respect to units shipped) as follows.

Account	Operating Costs	Behavior
Administration	$ 36,600	$ 33,200	Fixed
Center labor	276,600	$ 142,700	Fixed
Center lease	126,200	$ 101,200	Fixed
Depreciation on equipment	123,400	$ 113,200	Fixed
Miscellaneous	125,800	$ 55,200	Fixed
Order processing	177,200	$ 39,200	Fixed
Supervision	74,700	$ 51,200	Fixed
Supplies (including packing materials)	199,700	All Variable
Utilites	84,400	$ 61,200	Fixed
Total	$ 1,224,600

The center manager has asked the financial staff for more information about center costs and whether there is a better way to estimate them rather than having the controller go through the monthly account analysis. The center manager assigned the controller's staff to recommend improvements to the current process.

Historically, all the financial and operation performance measures at ADC have been based on the number of units shipped. However, in preparing the analysis, one of the analysts on the controller's staff collected information from the last twelve months on orders processed as well as units shipped and ADC operating costs. These follow here:

Month	Units	Orders	Center Cost
1	235,970	9,590	$ 993,030
2	245,650	16,360	1,224,070
3	242,950	13,090	1,064,000
4	257,810	15,270	1,204,440
5	253,760	16,830	1,221,320
6	267,940	13,490	1,220,930
7	249,030	16,090	1,156,660
8	279,420	12,740	1,215,790
9	269,960	8,770	1,135,990
10	285,500	12,150	1,163,350
11	282,800	13,160	1,182,270
12	292,970	11,350	1,218,750

The controller and other managers at ADC agree that operations and costs last year were representative for the center.

Required: a-1. Based on the controller's analysis of accounts, what is the variable cost per case? Note: Round your answer to 2 decimal places. a-2. Assuming that 275,000 units will be shipped in a future month, prepare an estimate of operating costs. d-1. Using Excel, calculate a multiple regression of operating costs on units shipped and orders processed, and enter the regression coefficients. d-2. Compute an estimation of operating costs assuming that 275,000 units based on 13,000 orders will be shipped in a future month by using the results of a multiple regression of operating costs on units shipped and orders processed. Complete this question by entering your answers in the tabs below. Using Excel, calculate a multiple regression of operating costs on units shipped and orders processed, and enter the regression coefficients. Note: Round "Intercept" to the nearest whole dollar amount. Round "Units" and "Orders processed" to 2 decimal places. b. Use the high-low method based on units shipped and center costs to prepare an estimate of operating costs assuming that 275,000 units will be shipped in a future month. Note: Round variable cost to 2 decimal places. Round other intermediate calculations and final answer to nearest whole dollar amount. c-1. Using Excel, calculate a simple regression of operating costs on units shipped and enter the regression coefficients. c-2. Compute an estimation of operating costs assuming that 275,000 units will be shipped in a future month by using the results of a simple regression of operating costs on units shipped. Complete this question by entering your answers in the tabs below. Using Excel, calculate a simple regression of operating costs on units shipped and enter the regression coefficients. Note: Round "Intercept" to the nearest whole dollar amount and "Units" to 2 decimal places. e. Select the most appropriate estimate for the given circumstances. Note: You may select more than one answer. Single click the box with the question mark to produce a check mark for a correct answer and double click the box with the question mark to empty the box for a wrong answer. Any boxes left with a question mark will be automatically graded as incorrect