We christened our brand-new employee pavilion on July 27 by hosting a picnic lunch for the entire Intervala crew. The Breezeway outdoor pavilion was the perfect setting for employees to relax and enjoy one another’s company after a busy work week. Attendees were treated to a yummy lunch from Apple Harvest Catering in nearby North Versailles, Pa., and had the chance to win fun prizes in a raffle. Everyone also received a special t-shirt to wear at the company’s upcoming family picnic. Thanks to Intervala’s Employee Association for coordinating this fun event!

A contest to name the pavilion was held during the construction phase. Congratulations to Kelle Diagnazio for submitting The Breezeway, which was selected as the winning entry in an employee vote!

And, special thanks to several employees whose extraordinary efforts made construction of the pavilion possible:  Dave Lenart, Roy Olbeiter, Tim Watson and Ed Mansell. Also, a big shout out to Ed Stein and his company for building this addition to our facility for employees to enjoy. We’re expecting a lot of future fun under that roof!

Students from Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh returned to Intervala before summer break to present their solutions for two real-life challenges in the company’s production processes. The young innovators were participants in Catalyst Connection’s Manufacturing Innovation Challenge program which brings together the brightest minds of tomorrow’s workforce with Southwestern Pennsylvania companies to engage in hands-on improvement projects.

The students first presented their design for a fixture that suspended a hand-held rivet gun used to place rivets on printed circuit boards. The tool can be cumbersome for employees to handle as it recoils and must be reset each time a rivet is placed on a board. The students created a fixture to stop the recoil action and allow employees to more easily refill the tool with rivets. They used scrap metal from their school’s metal shop and a skateboard truck to develop the prototype.

The students’ second challenge was to create an innovative solution for attaching tubes that feed electronic components to high-speed printed circuit board equipment. The students designed a unique 3D-printed fixture to attach to the feeders, enabling different size tubes to be held in place and reducing vibration. They used SOLIDWORKS® software during the design stage and collaborated with Intervala engineers on specific measurements needed for the tube formats.

Intervala engineering and production teams judged the students’ approaches to be innovative and cost-effective and to have the potential to be implemented with some additional modifications.

Thank you to Pittsburgh-based Catalyst Connection for sponsoring this tremendous program. Intervala is proud to participate and help inspire young innovators to develop game-changing intelligent solutions in the future.

No fun was spared as the Intervala Bowling League recently wrapped up its ninth season with a banquet at Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville, Pa. Since forming in 2009, the league has provided a way for employees to relax, have fun and build camaraderie with teammates they might not work closely with every day.

This year, 16 Intervala kingpins participated, and many brought a significant other or friend to join the fun and strike up new friendships. Thanks to New Great Valley Bowling Lanes in North Versailles, Pa., for hosting the league and lots of after-work fun!

Intervala recently partnered with Pittsburgh nonprofit Beverly’s Birthdays to help ensure no child is forgotten on their birthday. Our employees participated in the organization’s Birthday-In-A-Bag program, which preassembles bags filled with necessary items like cake mix, frosting, plates, cups, napkins and party hats for local families in need to host small birthday celebrations.

Intervala employees collected more than 300 items for donation to the Birthday-In-A-Bag program. A huge thank you to our employees for their amazing generosity and to Beverly’s Birthdays for providing birthday cheer to children in need!  #IntervalaInspires #IntervalaLife #Intervala #BeverlysBirthdays #Pittsburgh 

The MX4 multi-inspection machines detect defects in glass containers.

Another milestone for Intervala!  Two high-tech glass container inspection machines recently rolled off our assembly line and traveled more than 500 miles to be installed in state-of-the-art glass container factories. The fully operational machines, painted in our customer’s signature bright gold and green, are the first completed under our agreement to serve as TIAMA’s exclusive manufacturer of its MX4 multi-inspection equipment in the Americas. Premier makers of glass bottles, jars and vials use the proprietary TIAMA inspection technology to detect defects in the containers before they ship to users.

The inspection machines are crated and prepared for shipment.

Intervala is TIAMA’s exclusive manufacturer of the proprietary MX4 multi-inspection equipment in the Americas.