Sylvester Steel manufactures specialty steel in various forms. In essence, the firm melts scrap steel, adds trace elements, and processes the resulting alloy. The firm has provided you with data regarding the following three customers. Customer A Customer B Customer C Annual Sales volume $1.3 million $1.2 million $850,000 Average contribution margin ratio 20% 30% 20% (based on last year's data) Number of orders 8 2 Number of shipments 12 2 Number of order changes 3 0 Requests for new products 0 0 Sylvester's management gives the following data from its cost records. Activity Unit Cost Orders placed $300 per order Shipment of orders $500 per shipment Order changes $2,500 per change New product development $10,000 to develop a new product Required: (4 +3 = 7 points) a. Compute the profitability of the three representative customers. Rank order the customers according to profitability. Justify your answer with numbers. b. Provide any recommendations you can give to improve Sylvester's profitability