Bobcat Co. last week announced the opening of an additional factory in Georgia, and an enlarged production and research and development facility in Minnesota, both concentrating on compact equipment developments.

Bobcat believes the moves will help satisfy growing attachments market demand and underline its continued focus on the attachments business.

“The attachments business evolved for everyone largely on the back of skid-steer loaders,” said Bruce Collins, Bobcat vice president of attachments and utility vehicles. “Since we pioneered the skid-steer loader and have maintained market leadership, it’s been natural for our attachments focus to grow as well.”

In February, Bobcat announced the acquisition of a former Ingersoll-Rand plant, previously used for small- to mid-sized paver production, in Carrollton, Ga. In May, the company formalized plans to expand a Litchfield, Minn., attachments factory, and bring in light production and R&D operations currently housed in Grove City, Minn. The two facilities are expected to be fully up to speed during the fourth quarter.

Bobcat now has four production facilities in the United States, and is developing a manufacturing support center in Bismark, N.D., to support its growing compact excavator plant there.

The Carrollton factory will specialize in the production of general and multi-purpose Bobcat attachments, used primarily on loaders, but also for compact excavators. The Litchfield expansion will create an additional 30,000 square feet of attachments manufacturing space, and an additional 10,000 square feet for R&D.

Bobcat is a division of the Ingersoll-Rand Co.