Jerome Blakely assembles a 21-inch propeller. PYI makes the hub and nut components, and PYI attaches imported blades to finish the product.
Michael Butler puts finishing touches on a PSS Shaft Seal.
Kevin Woody, co-owner and vice president of PYI Inc., shows a completed PSS Shaft Seal for a 2½-inch drive shaft.
Miles Weber shows a 3-D CAD drawing for a Type B PSS Shaft Seal installed on a custom bladder flange PYI built. It includes a rotor and holding clamp on the right.
Jennie Panameno ensures a shaft seal component meets specifications before assembly.
Julio Martinez works on one of PYI’s CNC machines.
Brandon Chhann shows a cart of tiller arms ready for machining before going off to final assembly.
Michael Butler puts finishing touches on a PSS Shaft Seal.
Inflatable and lightweight boat fenders, boat propellers, rudder blades, no-slip deck coatings, shaft seals, and hose clamps are some of the several hundred products manufactured, assembled, modified, or distributed by Lynnwood-based PYI Inc., which is in its 41st year of supplying parts, mostly to the marine industry. It ships parts to more than 75 countries.
PYI also machines parts for suppliers in other industries, including airplane cabin parts for a Boeing supplier. Custom/contract machining of parts — from small runs of 100 parts to runs in the thousands — comprises more than 10 percent of PYI’s business, said Kevin Woody, vice president and co-owner, who joined PYI about a year after company president Frederic Laffitte founded it in 1981.
PYI wants to help customers get the parts they need, Woody said, underscoring the company’s tenets of offering quality products, innovation, employee knowledge and customer service, custom orders, and brand loyalty. PYI employs 21 people in roles that include Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining, CAD design, sales, purchasing, and accounting. Many tenures span decades. PYI is using every square foot of its facility and is planning a 5,000-square-foot expansion.
Jerome Blakely assembles a 21-inch propeller. PYI makes the hub and nut components, and PYI attaches imported blades to finish the product.
Kevin Woody, co-owner and vice president of PYI Inc., shows a completed PSS Shaft Seal for a 2½-inch drive shaft.
Julio Martinez works on one of PYI’s CNC machines.
The largest-volume product PYI manufacturers is its Packless Sealing System (PSS) Shaft Seal. The PSS Shaft Seal is installed on a vessel’s shaft and stern tube where the shaft exits the hull to prevent water from entering the vessel. PYI makes shaft seals for ¾- to 6-inch-diameter shafts, meaning they’re fitted on everything from small recreational boats to 250- to 300-foot yachts, plus some Coast Guard and Navy vessels, tugboats, and fishing boats. PYI also makes inflatable bladder flanges for the Navy’s manned motor lifeboats and various ferry systems.
PYI’s innovations include making shaft seals found on underwater treadmills used in rehabilitation for people and horses, and indoor rowing tanks that can mimic outdoor wave conditions for training rowers. PYI also made parts for ventilators when COVID-19 was peaking and ventilator need spiked. It’s preparing to make 12-foot rigid antennas that roll up for easy storage and can be used on overland vehicles in low-signal environments. It also has machined shredding blades for a tire recycler.
Another big seller is KiwiGrip, a New Zealand-made no-slip textured coating/grip material for which PYI is a U.S. distributor. Buyers include boat manufacturers, theme and water parks, homeowners looking to safeguard decks and steps, and more.
Miles Weber shows a 3-D CAD drawing for a Type B PSS Shaft Seal installed on a custom bladder flange PYI built. It includes a rotor and holding clamp on the right.
Jennie Panameno ensures a shaft seal component meets specifications before assembly.
Brandon Chhann shows a cart of tiller arms ready for machining before going off to final assembly.
Woody and Laffitte, both in their 60s, are starting to think about sailing into the sunset and have begun business succession planning involving each of their sons: Ben Woody, now 28, and Nicolas Laffitte, now 34, who both work at PYI. They’re expected to continue what their fathers built over four decades.
“Consumers primarily choose to do business with PYI because the products we design, import, and sell work,” says a document outlining the company’s operating principles.
John Stearns is a staff writer.
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