Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc (Cat Logistics), a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc, will open a new parts distribution centre near Moscow, Russia, next year.

The new centre is expected to serve the five Caterpillar dealers within the Russian Federation from mid-to-late 2006 onwards. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) dealers currently receive parts through the Grimbergen, Belgium, distribution centre.

Cat Logistics president and chairman Mary Bell said the new centre would strengthen Caterpillar's "world-class capabilities for distributing Caterpillar parts throughout the world".

A company statement said Caterpillar had worked closely with dealers to "gather the voice of the customer" and jointly develop a parts distribution solution in the CIS.

The new centre would enable dealers in Russia to receive next-day emergency order service and significantly reduce stock order delivery times.

"The investment in this new facility demonstrates our support of the dealers' mission to serve Caterpillar customers in Russia and our continued commitment to excellence in product support," Bell said.