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CAT Closing 3 Illinois Plants

Caterpillar Inc. has announced plans to close three production facilities in Illinois and move the work to a plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- Caterpillar Inc. has announced plans to close three production facilities in Illinois and move the work to a plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The Journal Star in Peoria reports (http://bit.ly/1uvJiXE) the plants being closed in Sterling and Dixon are all Anchor Coupling facilities, which is a subsidiary of Caterpillar. Hydraulic hose assemblies for both Caterpillar and other equipment manufacturers are made the plants. The closings will affect about 170 jobs.

Caterpillar spokeswoman Rachel Potts said Friday the company considered it had three facilities doing the same work as one facility in Menominee. She said combining them eliminates "redundancies" in management and costs.

Production at the Illinois plants will be phased out later this year and will be consolidated at the Michigan plant in the first quarter of 2015.

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