Sterling Industries produces machine parts as a contract provider for a large manufacturing company Sterling produces two particular parts, shafts and gears. The competition is keen among contract pro- ducers, and Sterling's top management realizes how vulnerable its market is to cost-cutting competitors Hence, having a very accurate understanding of costs is important to Sterling's survival Sterling's president, Sheila Hudson, has observed that the company's current cost to produce shafts is $21.41, and the current cost to produce gears is S12.73. She indicated to the controller that she suspects some problems with the cost system because Sterling is suddenly experiencing extraordinary competition on shafts, but it seems to have a virtual corner on the gears market. She is even considering dropping the shaft line and converting the company to a one-product manufacturer of gears. She asked the controller, George Coleman, to conduct a thorough cost study and to consider whether changes in the cost system are necessary. The controller collected the following data about the company's costs and various manufacturing activities for the most recent month Shafts Gears Production units Selling price Overhead per unit (based on direct labor hours). Materials and direct labor cost per unit.... Number of production runs......... Number of purchasing and receiving orders processed.. Number of machine hours... 47,000 $31.95 $12.34 $9.07 16,000 $23.50 $6.25 $6.48 15 25 110 6,000 5,000 5,000 50 12,750 29,000 5,000 Number of direct labor hours Number of engineering hours.. Number of material moves.. 40 30 The controller was able to summarize the company's total manufacturing overhead into the following pools: Setup costs... Machine costs Purchasing and receiving costs Engineering costs.. Materials handling costs.. 40,000 180,000 200,000 190,000 70,000 Total $680,000 Required a. Calculate Sterling's current plantwide overhead rate based on direct labor hours b. Verify Sterling's calculation of overhead cost per unit of $12.34 for shafts and $6.25 for gears. c. Calculate the manufacturing overhead cost per unit for shafts and gears using activity-based costing assuming each of the five cost pools represents a separate activity pool. Use the most appropriate activity driver for assigning activity costs to the two products. d. Comment on Sterling 's current cost system and the reason the company is facing fierce competition for shafts but little competition for gears