Modern presentation of high-tech software with Neos CMS

The new Volume Graphics website is fast, intuitive to use & responsive

A comprehensive relaunch, the integration of a new corporate identity (CI) and a clearly defined deadline of less than 2 months - this summarizes the key data of the first joint project of Volume Graphics GmbH and punkt.de. Volume Graphics came to punkt.de on recommendation. And just in time for Control, the international trade fair for quality assurance in Stuttgart in May 2017, the new Volume Graphics website was online.

The initial situation: time for a fresh start

The software developed by Volume Graphics is used to analyse and visualize industrial computed tomography (CT) data. Material is x-rayed, examined with the software and displayed in 3D in a clear and visually appealing way. Material defects become visible, the dimensions of individual components can be precisely measured and forces on the material can even be simulated to test the effects of tension and pressure. This is high-tech at its best. The software is used in the quality assurance of huge engine blocks, the smallest plastic plugs and almost everything in between. So it's no wonder that the Heidelberg-based company's software is one of the world's leading solutions for the analysis and visualization of industrial CT data. And the images produced by the software are real eye-catchers!

Having grown over the years, however, the website had not only become slow, it also did not adequately reflect the company's cutting-edge products. Volume Graphics therefore decided to relaunch the site. The goal? In addition to a whole range of technical requirements, the website also needed to be visually revamped. It needed to be just as eye-catching as the 3D visualizations of the software!

A clear and appealing presentation of the product range and the integration of the newly created corporate identity (CI) were at the heart of the project. Other priorities were to design the website in such a way that it is displayed attractively and correctly scaled on all end devices (responsive web design), as well as basic measures to increase performance. In short: a complex undertaking in which the entire website was redesigned from scratch.

What's more, there were just 48 days between the first meeting and the planned go-live date. A rapid time-to-market, you could say.

Screenshot of the Volume Graphics website with Volume Graphics product range

Screenshot of the Volume Graphics website: Training Finder

The challenge: to implement a graphically exciting layout in a user-friendly way - in less than 2 months

This project was demanding - technically, visually and in terms of people. There were many locations and construction sites; everything was in motion until the clearly defined deadline.

The Volume Graphics website needed to look fresh and tidy. Extensive content had to be displayed in a space-saving way. We were provided with the layout - a clear tile look that gave the graphic elements plenty of room to breathe and should adapt dynamically and smoothly. In order to guarantee clarity, accordions with several levels were to be used, which can be shown and hidden with a click.

There were numerous reasons for using the Neos content management system (CMS), both in terms of programming and editorial maintenance. What makes Neos special is above all its uncomplicated operation. It is an extremely user-friendly CMS that can be operated intuitively. Thanks to front-end editing, the user can already see and adapt the changes to the live page while editing. This makes it easy to maintain an overview - even with a website as complex as this one, with many individual elements.

Our highly qualified employees came together and - under the leadership of Daniel Lienert, who is a Neos Core developer - jointly implemented the sophisticated concept.

The tight deadline only motivated me and my team even more to show that with Neos you can get such a comprehensive web project up and running in the shortest possible time.

Daniel Lienert, Neos Core Developer and Scrum Master at punkt.de

mobile view of the Volume Graphics newsroom

mobile view of the Volume Graphics Training Finder

mobile Volume Graphics Website - Photo gallery

"Airy look"

responsive web design

best performance

optimized for fast downloads

extensive forms

Connection to Microsoft Dynamics CRM & CleverReach

hosted on a proServer

The solution: a responsive and appealing design based on Neos

Volume Graphics GmbH is an international company that uses its software to analyze and visualize objects in an impressive way. The website now conveys precisely this message. Impressive images are now not only the focus of the software, but also of the web design. The website picks up on the look of the images created with the software. It is also "airy" and arouses curiosity.

There have never been as many devices for surfing the Internet as there are today. Responsive web design has become the standard. Every website should adapt to the size of the respective display. When programming, we therefore consistently relied on responsive web design to ensure optimal usability and display adaptation.
We paid particular attention to the tiles, which dynamically adapt to the content in terms of size and position and should also look smart on all devices. This required an adaptive calculation of the parameters using JavaScript.

Loading times determine whether a visit to a website is pleasant or nerve-wracking. The Volume Graphics website is now designed for performance. The website is cached on several levels and images are automatically optimized for fast downloads, to name just two examples.

As a service for users of the analysis software, the free viewer (myVGL) is still available for download. The download uses Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Inquiries about products can be made using extensive forms, which in turn are linked to the internal Microsoft Dynamics CRM system and the CleverReach email marketing tool.

The website is hosted with proServer, the punkt.de hosting solution specifically for Neos. With proServer, we close the gap between classic shared hosting and high-maintenance root server solutions. The package is equipped with the latest PHP version and, with modern services such as Redis, Elasticsearch and Varnish, comes with everything that Neos projects require.

The bottom line: expressive images are shown to their best advantage within the framework of the minimalist, clear structure. In every corner of the world, the attractive website loads in an instant. Christian Lohmüller, technical editor at Volume Graphics GmbH, sums it up: "punkt.de has done an excellent job. And the best thing? It was fun working with them. We look forward to working with them again!"

The future: continuous development

The first goal has been achieved: the relaunch has been successfully completed and was ready in time for the trade fair. We have thus created a solid technical basis for the future. Further goals have already been set. These include the migration of the Japanese website, the optimization of some forms and the presentation of the company's internal training courses. We look forward to continuing our collaboration!

That was a tight box. Throughout the entire process, we found punkt.de to be professional, transparent and confident in what they do and can do. They analyzed the many to-dos, discussed and coordinated options with us, and then worked through them quickly. A gallant and solution-oriented approach that gave everyone involved a sense of security and calm.

Christian Lohmüller, Technical Editor, Volume Graphics GmbH