German Production Costs

German Production Costs

Item	Man-Time Needed	Cost
37mm Flak 37	4000+ Man Hours	--
A4/V-2 Rocket	12,950 Man Hours	48,000 RM
Armed Trawler	150,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109E (1939)	12,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109E (1940)	6,000~ Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109F (1941)	7,800~ Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109F (1942)	4,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109G (1942)	5,700~ Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109G (1943)	4,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Bf-109G (1944)	2,000 Man Hours	Unknown
BMW 003A (Turbojet)	600 Man Hours	Unknown
BMW 801 (1940)	2,400 Man Hours	80,700 RM
BMW 801 (1944)	1,520 Man Hours	45,000 RM
DB 601	2,420 to 3,000 Man Hours	28,800 to 35,800 RM
Destroyer	1,780,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Drifter	20,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Ferdinand/Elefant	Unknown	399,800 RM
Fiesler 103 (V-1) Flying Bomb	280 Man Hours	5,060 RM
G7a (Steam) Torpedo	1,707 Man Hours (Highly Skilled Workers)	20,000+ RM
G7e (Electric) Torpedo	1,255 Man Hours (Semi Skilled Workers)	Unknown
He-219-A-0 (only 11 A/C Built)	9,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Jumo 004B (Turbojet)	700 Man Hours	Unknown
Kar-98k	Unknown	56 RM
MG-34	150 Man Hours	327 RM (400 RM for tripod)
MG-42	75 Man Hours	250 RM
Minesweeper	220,000 Man Hours	Unknown
MP-38	Unknown	57 RM
MP-40	Unknown	60 RM (significantly faster to make than MP-38)
MP-44	Unknown	66 RM
Panther	150,000 Man Hours	117,000 RM
Panzer IIA	Unknown	52,640 RM
Panzer IIB	Unknown	49,000 RM
Panzer IIF	Unknown	52,728 RM
Panzer III (Post 1943)	2,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Panzer III (Pre 1943)	4,000 Man Hours	Unknown
Panzer IIIM	Unknown	103,163 RM
Panzer IV	Unknown	117,000 RM
Panzer IVF	Unknown	115,962 RM
Panzer IVG	Unknown	125,000 RM
S- or R-Boat	40,000 Man Hours	Unknown
SdKfz 9 Halftrack	Unknown	60,000 RM
StuG IIIG	Unknown	82,500 RM
Tiger I	300,000 Man Hours	300,000 RM
Tiger II	Unknown	321,500 RM
Torpedo Boat	1,190,000 Man Hours	Unknown
U Boat (Average for 1942 mostly VIIs)	320,000 Man Hours	Unknown

In May 1943 each ton of munitions the Germans made used less than half the iron and steel, 1/6 the aluminum and half the copper compared to the 1941 production.

Raw Materials used to produce a Panzer III (22,250 kg vehicle weight)
Material Type	Weight (kg)	Pct of final vehicle weight
Steel	39,000	175.28%
Tin	1.4	0.01%
Copper	60.1	0.27%
Aluminum	90.4	0.41%
Lead	71.1	0.32%
Zinc	49.1	0.22%
Rubber	125	0.56%

Internet Posting:

I have figures from Anthony Kay's "German Gas Turbine and jet engine development 1933-1945" for the BMW 003A-2 taking 600 manhours out of a planned 500. These are actual German figures and conform with the production engineers Dr Fattners estimates of 500 manhours per engine.

This is much less than a piston engine.

Breakdown is:

Machining 220
Sheet Metal Work 160
Starter Governor 60
& Miscellaneous 100
Assembly 60

There are further breakdowns with the 66 turbine rotor blades requiring only 10 hours.

Of course this doesn't cover the cost of refining and transporting metals and raw materials.

The time taken for the Jumo 004 was 700 manhours.

In both engines there was very little nickel, chromium or manganese. At most 6kg of each with nickel virtually eliminated to 200 grams in some versions. Nickel was in very short supply.

The website http://www.focke-wulf190.com lists the manhours required for a BMW 801 as

"Durch eine Optimierung der Fertigung wurden die Preise für die Motoren immer weiter gesenkt. Der Preis einer BMW 801 Motoranlage lag 1940 bei 80700 RM und Ende 1942 nur noch bei 45000 RM. Davon entfielen 35600 RM auf den Motor und der Rest auf das Kommandogerät (3000 RM) und die Verkleidung des Motors (6400 RM). Die Anzahl der Fertigungsstunden betrug Ende 1942 etwa 16000 Stunden pro Motor."

Or in English

"The prices for the engines were continiously lowered by an optimization of manufacturing. The price of a BMW 801 engine was in 1940 80,700 RM and at the end of of 1942 only 45,000 RM. Of this 35,600 RM were allotted to the engine and the remainder to the control unit (3,000 RM) and the lining of the engine (6,400 RM). The number of manufacturing hours amounted to at the end of of 1942 about 16,000 hours per engine."

I would assume that a V12 engine like the DB603 would be about the same.

The Ju-388 Tooling took 388,000 to 400,000 Man Hours to set up and jig.

“Another is that the German emphasis on quality may have suffered. The Germans seemed to have an idea of quality that was not utilitarian. A friend of mine examined a Panther at Aberdeen, and reported that it was very finely done, including grinding down rough edges in the armor. This took additional man-hours, and added nothing to the Panther's usefulness. In contrast, the T-34 he examined had had its armor cut with cutting torches, and attached with the extremely rough edges intact. (The Sherman he examined had had armor cut with a band saw, functional but not fancy.)”