Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. has announced its plans to move some of its production from Japan to North America, where it will open a new manufacturing facility.

Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, said it decided to move production to bring it closer to its customers.

It may be noted here that a large fraction of Caterpillar’s customer base is from North America and Europe.

To improve delivery times for its European customers, the company will export partially assembled mini excavator base parts to a Europe-based facility.

Making the announcement, Caterpillar said, “Producing these machines at a North American location will put us in the best possible position to serve our customers in the building construction industry.”

The manufacturer said the location of its new plant in North America would be finalized by the end of this year, while construction would start sometime in the first six months of 2012.

At full capacity, the North American manufacturing facility will provide work to more than 1,000 people.

Shares in Caterpillar gained $3.93, or 4.3 per cent, to close at $96.13 in the after-hours trading on Friday.