Caterpillar Inc. reports it will build a new plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where it will machine components and assemble, test, and paint axle assemblies for large mining machinery. Construction will begin later this year for an 850,000-ft2 operation that will begin operations in early 2012. The employment total at full capacity will be roughly 400, Caterpillar estimated.
At present, Caterpillar has manufacturing plants in Clayton, Franklin, Goldsboro, and Morganton, N.C. The Winston-Salem plant may take up to five years to reach full capacity.
The new plant is part of Caterpillar's long-term global strategy to increase capacity for mining trucks. According to Hans Haefeli, v.p. - Advanced Components & Systems. "We look forward to establishing our new lower powertrain facility in Winston-Salem, which will allow us to substantially increase our capacity, improve process capability, flexibility and flow of our operations. This location will improve our supply chain efficiency and, as a result, allows us to better serve our customers more effectively while reducing operating costs."
Earlier this summer, Caterpillar outlined a four-year, $700-million investment program to expand production of mining shovels at its Aurora, Ill., plant, and heavy mining trucks at Chennai, India.
