''At mid-war, most German tank plants were still not operating at full capacity due to severe labour shortages and Speer was astounded that the main tank plants were not running a second shift. Henschel was the first to institute two 12 hour shifts in late 1942, and by early 1943 Speer pressed the other companies into following suit. However, the only way to quickly add additional shifts was to boost reliance on foreign forced labor, including prisoners of war, which further reduced efficiency in the factories.''Richard Anderson wrote: ↑09 Nov 2020, 18:10I am not aware that either the Grusonwerk or MAN ever went to a second shift. Henschel did by the end of 1944, but no source I found said when they began the second shift.Avalancheon wrote: ↑09 Nov 2020, 08:04Another question comes to mind. If your citation is true, then it indicates that Krupp-Gruson and MAN only underwent a relatively limited expansion in their workforce during the war. Krupp-Gruson went from 7397 workers in 1939 to 10,814 workers in 1943. MAN went from 8836 workers in 1939 to 11,261 workers in 1943. Thats an increase of just 46% and 27%, respectively. If thats true, then why did these factories wait to 1943 before implementing a double shift?
-Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1943–1945: Red Steamroller, by Robert Forczyk.
"On the basis of experience gained during the Western Campaign, Hitler ordered a tank production of 800 to 1000 units per month. However the Army Ordinance office reckoned that the cost of this program would be about two billion marks, and that it would involved the employment of 100,000 skilled workers and specialists. In view of these heavy expenses, Hitler unfortunately agreed to abandon this plan for the time being." -Panzer Leader, by Heinz Guderian.Richard Anderson wrote: ↑09 Nov 2020, 18:10Do you have a source for that? Meanwhile, WRT the Panzer III, it only became factories plural after the war began, again because of the issues with the design. The plan as early as 1937-1938 was to add factories to the production pool. The factories were available, but a completed design wasn't.Avalancheon wrote: ↑09 Nov 2020, 08:04The factories clearly weren't meeting their production targets. Hence why Hitler ordered the tank factories to increase production soon after the French campaign was over. He was aiming for an unrealistically high figure of 800-1000 tanks a month, which was a huge increase over their output at the time. Hitler balked when he was informed of the costs of such an increase, and ultimately chose to abandon this program. He could have settled for a more modest increase of tank production instead, something like 300-400 tanks a month. The costs of this program would be easier to bare, and it would help boost the tank fleet significantly in time for the invasion of the Soviet Union.