Alternatively, how many men could/would it take to smith a large quantity in quick succession. I assume a king or lord would have their own smiths. Would they seek the employ of other smiths if needed? Would smiths be forced to rush their work resulting in a diminished quality?
Sorry for all the questions. My mind went off on a tangent.
/u/WARitter has an absolutely phenomenal multi-post answer on the logistics of outfitting a medieval army that might interest you. I'm not very interested in military history in general, but this is one of my all-time favorite AH answers. :)
The post linked by u/sunagainstgold includes some rough figures for the time to make a full armour - in Milan it could be as little as a day (due to subcontractors working on all pieces of the armour separately). Before one battle in 1427 Milanese armourers provided thousands of armours in less than a week, though many of these were from stock. However Milanese armourers had a partciularly efficient organization, which other armouring centers were unable to match due to guild laws and other factors.
Here are two other answers related to the manufacture of armour that may provide context:
Please follow up with any other questions!