World Products is a company with a storied past. Founded in 1987, World brought the first viable aftermarket cast iron engine blocks and cylinder heads to the performance market. While the company has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, they have played an important role with marine performance engine builders.
A little less than two years ago, World Products was bought by PBM Performance Products of Louisville, KY. The entire operation has been relocated, foundry tooling has been revised, machining procedures have been revised, new quality control procedures have been implemented and production has been ramped up to meet the demand in the marketplace. Every aspect of the business has been evaluated and improved under the new ownership, and the resulting product is very high quality blocks and heads.
Even more remarkably in this business, World now has genuinely great customer service. They are paying close attention to what their customers have to say and continuously improving their products accordingly.
When World Products approached us and said “Hey Powerboat Nation, we love what you’re doing, we know that your members are our customers, we’ve got a lot we want to let the Hi Performance boating world know.” – We said we’ve heard about what’s been happening at World and were excited to share it with our readers.
For some behind the scenes info here’s some of the highlights of that conversation.
PBN: What are you doing to help meet the needs of marine engine builders?
World: We now have inventory positioned strategically around the US so that we can deliver engine blocks and cylinder heads to most of the country within 3 days.
PBN: We understand that all of your machining operations have been relocated to a new facility, how is this affecting the finished product?
World: We are machining our blocks in the same facility that machines GM Performance’s Bow Tie products. New fixtures and CNC machining centers are enabling us to produce some of the highest quality parts in the industry.
PBN: Speaking of quality, what kind of QC procedures are you implementing now?
World: The level of quality control that goes into our products is a crucial part of our process. Parts are inspected with a CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) during the manufacturing process, and then are inspected again by trained technicians before they are packaged and shipped.
At Powerboat Nation we are excited to see these developments in the engine building business and will follow up with more coverage. You can look forward to some in depth tech in the near future as we pull back the wrapper and show you just what it takes and who makes the best engine blocks and heads in the world.
