Perkins Engines and Ishikawajima Shibaura Machinery Ltd. of Japan are opening a new small engine manufacturing facility in Griffin, Ga.

Called Perkins Shibaura Engines llc, the operation is housed in a dedicated 55,000-square-foot facility and it is the first Perkins plant in North America. The new plant will produce the Perkins 400 Series engines, with annual production expected to reach 60,000. Production at the plant is scheduled to start in summer 2004.

All Perkins 400 Series engines are now manufactured at the company's headquarters in Peterborough, England. The Griffin, Ga., plant, a direct replica of the United Kingdom facility, will also build the Caterpillar 3011C to 3024CT family of engines, which is based on the same platform as Perkins 400 Series. Production will continue in Peterborough to serve the European and Middle Eastern markets and is not expected to decrease.