Perhaps one of the aspects of the PWC world that is least familiar to many fans is the most important one: the production. Not the aftermarket add-ons or the at-home tune-ups we often like to get into, but the actual first steps of the watercraft’s life—far before it’s even taken on the shape of a PWC at all. Be it Sea-Doo, Yamaha, Kawasaki, or any other PWC manufacturer, there’s always a point in time when the jet ski is no more than raw materials waiting to be shaped into something new.
While it’s certainly not easy to wrap your head around exactly how much goes into the production of a PWC, we stumbled upon a video the other day that does its best to give at least a tiny bit of insight into the process as a whole. The video comes from the team over at FRAME, a YouTube channel dedicated to showcasing the engineering side of business—the processes of designing, prototyping, and building that go into some of the biggest industries around the world.
Their recent video, titled “Inside Massive Factory Building Powerful Jet Skis From Scratch,” takes viewers into a series of PWC factories around the world, showing the various ways of constructing these watercraft we know and love.
The video covers factories from Newnan, Georgia, to Shizuoka, Japan, walking through the intricate choreography of production—from the early stages of engine assembly to the moment each completed craft rolls off the line for testing. Viewers see how Yamaha’s team in Newnan expertly joins the deck and hull after wiring the onboard electronics, how precision robotic arms and skilled workers apply the final paint coats and decals, and how each unit is submerged for waterproof verification before it earns the WaveRunner badge.
Over in Japan, Honda’s Hamamatsu plant showcases the company’s signature attention to detail, with technicians hand-torquing each bolt of the BF250 outboard motor and inspecting every engine block for microscopic imperfections. Mercury’s Suzhou facility highlights a more industrial side of the process: molten metal cast in sand molds, CNC machines carving components to exact specifications, and rigorous anti-corrosion treatments ensuring reliability in the harshest marine environments. Finally, Yamaha’s Greenfield, Indiana, facility offers a glimpse into the artistry behind the Saltwater Series II propellers, where molten alloys meet investment casting and meticulous hand-polishing to achieve that perfect finish.
It’s a captivating reminder that every jet ski on the water carries with it a story of innovation, global collaboration, and human craftsmanship long before the engine ever roars to life. You can check out that video over on the FRAME YouTube channel.
