Ruth keeps account of her family's expenses. She keeps track of the entire family's needs and discusses with other family members about what products need to be bought. She realizes that the family requires a bigger refrigerator and discusses this with her parents. She collects information about refrigerators from various brands so that her parents can make an informed decision. In the given scenario, Ruth plays the role of the in the household purchase process.

Shelby company produces three products: product x, product y, and product z. data concerning the three products follow (per unit): product x product y product z selling price $ 85 $ 65 $ 75 variable expenses: direct materials 25.50 19.50 5.25 labor and overhead 25.50 29.25 47.25 total variable expenses 51.00 48.75 52.50 contribution margin $ 34.00 $ 16.25 $ 22.50 contribution margin ratio 40 % 25 % 30 % demand for the company’s products is very strong, with far more orders each month than the company can produce with the available raw materials. the same material is used in each product. the material costs $8 per pound, with a maximum of 4,400 pounds available each month. required: a. compute contribution margin per pound of materials used. (round your intermediate calculations and final answers to 2 decimal places.) contribution margin per pound product x $ product y $ product z $ b. which orders would you advise the company to accept first, those for product x, for product y, or for product z? which orders second? third? product x product y product z