In 1946, James Martial (J.M.) Lapeyre invented the world’s first automated shrimp peeling machine, which revolutionized the shrimp processing industry. From that revolutionary invention, Laitram (his middle name backwards) was spawned. Over the next four decades, until his death in 1989, J.M. Lapeyre earned 191 U.S. patents and founded three operating divisions based on his industry defining inventions