Company History
James L. Taylor established the James L. Taylor Manufacturing Company in 1911 to produce his patented quick-adjusting, self-locking bar clamp. This patented clamp was a significant step forward in the edge gluing of lumber. In the 1920’s, the Taylor revolving Clamp Carrier was developed and patented. It was a major first step toward mass production. In 1940 Taylor engineers developed the Panel Flo, a continuous feed edge gluing machine. From the very beginning, the Panel Flo was acclaimed as the answer to mass production gluing. In 1950 Taylor introduced the Panel Mint, a batch type semiautomatic edge gluer which filled the gap between the Clamp Carrier and the fully automated Panel Flo. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Taylor designed new cost cutting accessories to compliment the Panel Flo and Panel Mint. These included the Conveyorized Glue Applicator, Mix-Mizer and Automatic Cut Off Saw. Also in the 1960’s, Taylor revived the Clamp Carrier design by introducing the pneumatic Clamp Tightener and Panel Flattener. During the 1970’s, the Taylor Panel-Mint was the machine of choice. This well designed Steam-Heated Batch Press matched with low cost urea resin glue was used by many furniture manufacturers to produce hardwood and softwood panels. Midway through the 1980’s, Taylor designed and produced the first Automated Clamp Carrier. This changed the direction of the Clamp Carrier line and made it the industry standard for edge gluing machines. Our history of innovation is best illustrated by our list of Challengers Award Winners and Finalists:
- 1986 – Automated Clamp Carrier – Winner
- 1988 – Opti-Sizer – Winner
- 1992 – Dual Automated Clamp Carrier – Finalist
- 1994 – Automated Glue Applicator – Finalist
- 1996 – Side Loading Clamp Carrier – Finalist
- 2002 – Opti-Match – Winner
- 2012 – Flooring Nester – Winner
Up until August of 2014, Taylor Manufacturing operated out of a 45,000 square foot factory in the city of Poughkeepsie, NY. Taylor had resided in this facility since 1911. Over the years the building was expanded and updated to continue to provide our customers with the quality machines. Today, Taylor Manufacturing, JLT Clamps, and Cameron Automation all reside in the same building, a 100,000 square foot facility in the town of Poughkeepsie, NY. Just minutes from our old facility, our new factory has allowed us to expand as a company and continually improve our manufacturing processes. Our balanced team of seasoned professionals and young engineers will continue to develop new technology to increase efficiency, reliability, and product quality.