First-ever North American Perkins Plant Plans Summer Production
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July 7, 2004 - Meeting a demand created by North American equipment manufacturers, Perkins Engines and long-time business partner for sub-60-hp engines Ishikawajima Shibaura Machinery Ltd. of Japan recently announced they will begin producing compact engines in its Perkins Shibaura Engines assembly plant in Griffin, Ga. The 55,000 square-foot facility is the first-ever Perkins plant in North America.
Primarily an assembly plant, the Griffin facility will begin producing the Perkins 400 Series 2-, 3-, and 4-cylinder turbocharged engines this summer. These diesel engines are sold in a wide variety of off-highway applications to both Caterpillar and independent OEMs.
"We believe the [400 Series] popularity will increase dramatically over the next couple years as more OEMs gain first-hand experience with the engines," says Mike Baunton, president of Perkins Engines.
At present, all Perkins 400 Series engines are manufactured in a separate Perkins Shibaura facility at the company's headquarters in Peterborough , England . The plant is expected to produce as many as 60,000 engines annually without taking away production from the Peterborough plant, which will serve the European and Middle Eastern markets.
"The engine is very much in demand here by our distribution network and our direct customers, particularly in the construction equipment and lawn segments," says Jeremy Canham, general manager of industrial systems. "We chose the location near Atlanta because of the excellent logistics it provides for our North American customers - it will be an engine made in America, the first time ever that Perkins has manufactured engines of this size here . Building engines at Griffin underscores our commitment to the North American diesel market."
