Automation Redefinded: WAGO PLCVisu

Overview

PLCVisu is an automation (SCADA) software distributed by WAGO. I joined the team at elrest, now part of the WAGO group, in 2023, where I was tasked with helping design the admin area of PLCVisu, creating SVG widgets for customers, and designing and building entire applications within PLCVisu for a variety of clients, including Rolls-Royce and KION.
In a way, PLCVisu functions like a content management system (CMS), allowing customers to build their own visualization solutions for modern automation projects.

Responsibilities

Starting out, I was tasked with creating a WebGL-based 3D visualization tool primarily intended for clients in the building industry. Over time, I began taking on more responsibility, working closely with the WAGO design team to create a more consistent user flow and interface. Eventually, I became more actively involved in developing and contributing to PLCVisu's source code directly.
Another part of my work involved creating SVG widgets that, depending on their type, served different functions, such as bar graphs, gauges, and other custom elements. Through communication via CODESYS, these SVGs came to life as interactive elements within applications.

Challenges

The greatest challenge of this project was fully comprehending and contextualizing the complexity of PLCVisu. Having worked mainly as a UI/UX designer and 3D generalist with expertise in WebGL, becoming more involved in actual software engineering, using the Angular framework, meant developing a deep understanding of PLCVisu's functional underpinnings.

Tools & Workflows

A variety of tools supported this project. Figma was used for designing user flows and SVGs, as well as structuring components in a way that stayed consistent with WAGO's design system. From there, SVGs were exported and further enhanced in VS Code, where markup and styling were refined to make them fully functional and interactive within the application. Daily use of Git and GitLab kept version control and collaboration organized across the team, while JIRA was essential for ticketing, sprint planning, and tracking progress on individual features throughout the project.

Outcome & Impact

Since 2023, PLCVisu has gone through many iterations, becoming more robust and user-friendly with each release. I contributed to its overall appearance and user flow, designing, coding, and releasing dozens of interactive SVG elements, many of which were highly customized for clients to fit their design language. One of my proudest achievements is having worked together with a multitude of clients, understanding and developing their design libraries as well as our own. The collaboration with Rolls-Royce, especially, was immensely rewarding and educational. I'm privileged to have worked with many talented designers and developers across different companies, understanding and incorporating parts of their knowledge and approach into my own. In late 2025, PLCVisu was officially released on the WAGO store for users to purchase and use.

Visual content is used under fair use principles for the sole purpose of illustrating my contribution to the project. All rights to the displayed works and brand assets belong to WAGO GmbH & Co. KG.