Employee Spotlight: Meet Loy Wood

Warehouse Parts Supervisor Loy Wood spends his day at Linder Industrial Machinery’s Ladson, S.C., branch locating orders for customers, organizing shelves and keeping the shop stocked with everything from machine oil to dozer blades.

Wood has worked in this capacity since 2015. Before taking on his current role, he served in the U.S. Air Force where coordinated transportation for both passengers and cargo. Organization and timeliness were essential parts to that job and have translated to quick success with Linder.

“Instead of moving people and freight around the globe, now I’m focused on the Ladson branch,” said Wood. “I’m always trying to find ways to be more organized and efficient. If I find something takes too long, I’ll work to make it faster and at less cost to the customer.”

A new vertical lift machine (VLM) in the Ladson branch’s parts department makes it easier for Wood to organize hundreds of parts and increase his efficiency.

“Instead of having drawers where it’s necessary to bend down and guess where things are at, the VLM brings it out to me,” said Wood. “It holds 55 trays with a combination of big and small boxes and small to large parts. The machine works well and there are fewer errors because it tells exactly where things are located on the tray and how many items are supposed to be there.”

New discoveries every day

Wood enjoys the excitement of seeing new machinery components and learning how they work. “Every day unique parts arrive, and I don’t always know what they do or which machine they’re for. It’s fun to figure out what each part does and where it’s supposed to go.”

“I like to tinker with parts, bolts, screws and things like that,” noted Wood. “What I do at work pretty much equals what I enjoy in my time off. I have an older car that breaks down a lot, so I’m always replacing things and making repairs on it.”

While Linder stretches across three states, Wood enjoys the family atmosphere at the Ladson branch.

“It’s like a mom and pop shop where everybody knows everyone, and we get along really well,” said Wood. “Upper management recognizes people who put in hard work. It’s a great place to work.”