diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/projects/show.js b/app/assets/javascripts/projects/show.js
index 7d9798768..170d99fc5 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/projects/show.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/projects/show.js
@@ -1,67 +1,24 @@
-(function(){
-  var count = 0;
-
-  function init(){
-    $("[data-id]").each(function(){
-      var that = $(this);
-      initProjectExperiment(that);
-    });
-  }
-
-  function initProjectExperiment(element){
-    var container = element.find(".workflowimg-container");
-    var url = container.data("check-img");
-    var timestamp = container.data("timestamp");
-    var img_url = container.data('updated-img');
-
-    animateSpinner(container, true, { color: '#555', top: '60%', zIndex: '100' });
-    checkUpdatedImg(img_url, url, timestamp, container);
-  }
-
-  // checks if the experiment image is updated
-  function checkUpdatedImg(img_url, url, timestamp, container){
-    if (count < 30 && timestamp){
-      $.ajax({
-        url: url,
-        type: "GET",
-        data: { "timestamp": timestamp },
-        dataType: "json",
-        success: function (data) {
-          getNewWorkforwImg(container, img_url);
-          container.show();
-          animateSpinner(container, false);
-        },
-        error: function (ev) {
-          if (ev.status == 404) {
-            setTimeout(function () {
-              checkUpdatedImg(img_url, url, timestamp, container)
-            }, 5000);
-          } else {
-            animateSpinner(container, false);
+(function() {
+  function init() {
+    $('.workflowimg-container').each(function() {
+      let container = $(this);
+      if (container.data('workflowimg-present') === false) {
+        let imgUrl = container.data('workflowimg-url');
+        container.find('.workflowimg-spinner').removeClass('hidden');
+        $.ajax({
+          url: imgUrl,
+          type: 'GET',
+          dataType: 'json',
+          success: function(data) {
+            container.html(data.workflowimg);
+          },
+          error: function() {
+            container.find('.workflowimg-spinner').addClass('hidden');
           }
-          count++;
-          }
-      });
-    } else {
-      animateSpinner(container, false);
-    }
-  }
-
-  // fetch the new experiment image
-  function getNewWorkforwImg(el, url){
-    $.ajax({
-      url: url,
-      type: "GET",
-      dataType: "json",
-      success: function (data) {
-        el.children('img').remove();
-        el.append(data.workflowimg);
-      },
-      error: function (ev) {
-        // TODO
+        });
       }
     });
   }
 
   init();
-})();
+}());
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/projects.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/projects.scss
index 99324fa85..b4457a30b 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/projects.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/projects.scss
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // scss-lint:disable SelectorDepth
 // scss-lint:disable NestingDepth
-@import 'constants';
+@import "constants";
 @import "mixins";
 
 // Some color definitions
@@ -559,9 +559,16 @@ li.module-hover {
   .no-workflowimg {
     color: $color-alto;
     display: block;
-    font-size: 22px;
+    text-align: center;
+    text-decoration: none;
+  }
+
+  .no-tasks {
+    color: $color-alto;
+    display: block;
+    font-size: 1.5em;
     font-weight: bold;
-    margin: 15px 0;
+    margin: 1em 0;
     max-height: 200px;
     padding-bottom: 70px;
     padding-top: 50px;
@@ -575,6 +582,11 @@ li.module-hover {
   height: 100%;
   justify-content: center;
 
+  .workflowimg-spinner {
+    color: $color-alto;
+    top: 50%;
+  }
+
   img {
     max-height: 190px;
     max-width: 100%;
diff --git a/app/controllers/canvas_controller.rb b/app/controllers/canvas_controller.rb
index d5d95e540..267334fcf 100644
--- a/app/controllers/canvas_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/canvas_controller.rb
@@ -171,9 +171,6 @@ class CanvasController < ApplicationController
       next if my_module.blank?
     end
 
-    # Create workflow image
-    @experiment.generate_workflow_img
-
     flash[:success] = t('experiments.canvas.update.success_flash')
     redirect_to canvas_experiment_path(@experiment)
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/experiments_controller.rb b/app/controllers/experiments_controller.rb
index d14696d64..c0e1ed0c8 100644
--- a/app/controllers/experiments_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/experiments_controller.rb
@@ -213,28 +213,19 @@ class ExperimentsController < ApplicationController
   def module_archive
   end
 
-  def updated_img
-    if @experiment.workflowimg.attached? && !@experiment.workflowimg_exists?
-      @experiment.workflowimg.purge
-      @experiment.generate_workflow_img
-    end
-    respond_to do |format|
-      format.json do
-        if @experiment.workflowimg.attached?
-          render json: {}, status: 200
-        else
-          render json: {}, status: 404
-        end
+  def fetch_workflow_img
+    unless @experiment.workflowimg_exists?
+      Experiment.no_touching do
+        Experiments::GenerateWorkflowImageService.call(experiment: @experiment)
       end
     end
-  end
 
-  def fetch_workflow_img
     respond_to do |format|
       format.json do
         render json: {
           workflowimg: render_to_string(
-            partial: 'projects/show/workflow_img.html.erb'
+            partial: 'projects/show/workflow_img.html.erb',
+            locals: { experiment: @experiment }
           )
         }
       end
diff --git a/app/models/experiment.rb b/app/models/experiment.rb
index 058f28bd2..9299386e9 100644
--- a/app/models/experiment.rb
+++ b/app/models/experiment.rb
@@ -212,13 +212,8 @@ class Experiment < ApplicationRecord
     true
   end
 
-  def generate_workflow_img
-    workflowimg.purge if workflowimg.attached?
-    Experiments::GenerateWorkflowImageService.delay.call(experiment_id: id)
-  end
-
   def workflowimg_exists?
-    workflowimg.service.exist?(workflowimg.blob.key)
+    workflowimg.attached? && workflowimg.service.exist?(workflowimg.blob.key)
   end
 
   # Get projects where user is either owner or user in the same team
@@ -345,9 +340,6 @@ class Experiment < ApplicationRecord
                                                experiment_new: experiment.id
                                              })
     end
-
-    # Generate workflow image for the experiment in which we moved the task
-    generate_workflow_img_for_moved_modules(to_move)
   end
 
   # Move module groups; this method accepts a map where keys
@@ -406,17 +398,6 @@ class Experiment < ApplicationRecord
         group.save!
       end
     end
-
-    # Generate workflow image for the experiment in which we moved the workflow
-    generate_workflow_img_for_moved_modules(to_move)
-  end
-
-  # Generates workflow img when the workflow or module is moved
-  # to other experiment
-  def generate_workflow_img_for_moved_modules(to_move)
-    Experiment.where(id: to_move.values.uniq).each do |exp|
-      exp.generate_workflow_img
-    end
   end
 
   # Update connections for all modules in this project.
@@ -485,7 +466,7 @@ class Experiment < ApplicationRecord
   def update_module_positions(positions)
     modules = my_modules.where(id: positions.keys)
     modules.each do |m|
-      m.update_columns(x: positions[m.id.to_s][:x], y: positions[m.id.to_s][:y])
+      m.update(x: positions[m.id.to_s][:x], y: positions[m.id.to_s][:y])
     end
     my_modules.reload
   end
@@ -498,7 +479,7 @@ class Experiment < ApplicationRecord
     y_diff = my_modules.pluck(:y).min
 
     my_modules.each do |m|
-      m.update_columns(x: m.x - x_diff, y: m.y - y_diff)
+      m.update(x: m.x - x_diff, y: m.y - y_diff)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/my_module.rb b/app/models/my_module.rb
index 6beac9652..c4f960e8e 100644
--- a/app/models/my_module.rb
+++ b/app/models/my_module.rb
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ class MyModule < ApplicationRecord
 
   before_create :create_blank_protocol
   before_create :assign_default_status_flow
-
   around_save :exec_status_consequences, if: :my_module_status_id_changed?
+  after_save -> { experiment.workflowimg.purge },
+             if: -> { (saved_changes.keys & %w(x y experiment_id my_module_group_id input_id output_id archived)).any? }
 
   auto_strip_attributes :name, :description, nullify: false, if: proc { |mm| mm.name_changed? || mm.description_changed? }
   validates :name,
@@ -168,7 +169,6 @@ class MyModule < ApplicationRecord
         raise ActiveRecord::Rollback
       end
     end
-    experiment.generate_workflow_img
     restored
   end
 
diff --git a/app/services/create_my_module_service.rb b/app/services/create_my_module_service.rb
index ac4324045..e4e202f33 100644
--- a/app/services/create_my_module_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/create_my_module_service.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ class CreateMyModuleService
 
       @my_module.assign_user(@user)
 
-      @params[:experiment].generate_workflow_img
       new_my_module = @my_module
     end
     new_my_module
diff --git a/app/services/experiments/copy_experiment_as_template_service.rb b/app/services/experiments/copy_experiment_as_template_service.rb
index 5a708ce7b..7b830a73a 100644
--- a/app/services/experiments/copy_experiment_as_template_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/experiments/copy_experiment_as_template_service.rb
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ module Experiments
       @errors.merge!(@c_exp.errors.to_hash) unless @c_exp.valid?
 
       @c_exp = nil unless succeed?
-      @c_exp.generate_workflow_img if succeed?
       track_activity if succeed?
 
       self
diff --git a/app/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service.rb b/app/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service.rb
index 071607f7e..6de19e71f 100644
--- a/app/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ module Experiments
 
     attr_reader :errors
 
-    def initialize(experiment_id:)
-      @exp = Experiment.find experiment_id
+    def initialize(experiment:)
+      @exp = experiment
       @graph = GraphViz.new(:G, type: :digraph, use: :neato)
 
       @graph[:size] = '4,4'
@@ -75,10 +75,14 @@ module Experiments
 
     def save_file
       file = Tempfile.open(%w(wimg .png), Rails.root.join('tmp'))
-      @graph.output(png: file.path)
-      @exp.workflowimg.attach(io: file, filename: File.basename(file.path))
-      file.close
-      file.unlink
+      begin
+        @graph.output(png: file.path)
+        file.rewind
+        @exp.workflowimg.attach(io: file, filename: File.basename(file.path))
+      ensure
+        file.close
+        file.unlink
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/team_importer.rb b/app/services/team_importer.rb
index 1c0ef435e..0a65b889a 100644
--- a/app/services/team_importer.rb
+++ b/app/services/team_importer.rb
@@ -616,7 +616,6 @@ class TeamImporter
       my_module_group.save!
       @my_module_group_mappings[orig_module_group_id] = my_module_group.id
     end
-    experiment.generate_workflow_img
     create_my_modules(experiment_json['my_modules'], experiment, user_id)
     experiment
   end
diff --git a/app/utilities/first_time_data_generator.rb b/app/utilities/first_time_data_generator.rb
index 57a0ab696..1febcf927 100644
--- a/app/utilities/first_time_data_generator.rb
+++ b/app/utilities/first_time_data_generator.rb
@@ -1297,9 +1297,6 @@ module FirstTimeDataGenerator
       created_at: generate_random_time(my_modules[7].created_at, 3.days),
       file_name: 'result-ddCq.JPG'
     )
-
-    # create thumbnail
-    experiment.generate_workflow_img
   end
 
   # Used for delayed jobs
diff --git a/app/views/projects/show/_experiment.html.erb b/app/views/projects/show/_experiment.html.erb
index a43f6d7fe..de8ec6929 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/show/_experiment.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/projects/show/_experiment.html.erb
@@ -55,18 +55,24 @@
 
     <div class="panel-body">
       <% if experiment.active_modules.length > 0 %>
-        <%= link_to canvas_experiment_path(experiment) do %>
-          <div class="workflowimg-container"
-               data-check-img="<%= updated_img_experiment_url(experiment) %>"
-               data-updated-img="<%= fetch_workflow_img_experiment_url(experiment) %>"
-               data-timestamp="<%= experiment.updated_at %>" >
-          </div>
+        <%= link_to canvas_experiment_path(experiment), class: 'no-workflowimg' do %>
+          <% if experiment.workflowimg.attached? %>
+            <div class="workflowimg-container" data-workflowimg-present="true">
+              <%= render partial: 'projects/show/workflow_img.html.erb', locals: { experiment: experiment } %>
+            </div>
+          <% else %>
+            <div class="workflowimg-container"
+                 data-workflowimg-present="false"
+                 data-workflowimg-url="<%= fetch_workflow_img_experiment_url(experiment) %>" >
+              <i class="fas fa-spinner fa-spin fa-3x workflowimg-spinner hidden" aria-hidden="true"></i>
+            </div>
+          <% end %>
         <% end %>
       <% else %>
         <% if can_manage_experiment?(experiment) %>
           <%= link_to( t('experiments.edit.add_task'),
                        canvas_experiment_path(experiment, editMode: true),
-                       class: 'no-workflowimg') %>
+                       class: 'no-tasks') %>
         <% else %>
           <div class="no-workflowimg">
             <p><%= t('experiments.edit.no_workflowimg') %></p>
diff --git a/app/views/projects/show/_workflow_img.html.erb b/app/views/projects/show/_workflow_img.html.erb
index 55152afa6..3bc73301e 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/show/_workflow_img.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/projects/show/_workflow_img.html.erb
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<%= image_tag url_for(@experiment.workflowimg), class: 'img-responsive center-block' %>
+<%= image_tag url_for(experiment.workflowimg), class: 'img-responsive center-block' %>
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 4aab8c8ae..88c4c50bb 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -315,7 +315,6 @@ Rails.application.routes.draw do
         post 'clone' # clone experiment
         get 'move_modal' # return modal with move options
         post 'move' # move experiment
-        get 'updated_img' # Checks if the workflow image is updated
         get 'fetch_workflow_img' # Get udated workflow img
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service_spec.rb
index 51abca4ce..aa1a4f82b 100644
--- a/spec/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/experiments/generate_workflow_image_service_spec.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ require 'rails_helper'
 
 describe Experiments::GenerateWorkflowImageService do
   let(:experiment) { create :experiment, :with_tasks }
-  let(:params) { { experiment_id: experiment.id } }
+  let(:params) { { experiment: experiment } }
 
   context 'when succeed' do
     it 'succeed? returns true' do
diff --git a/spec/services/model_importers/team_importer_spec.rb b/spec/services/model_importers/team_importer_spec.rb
index e4f64cdd1..49991f277 100644
--- a/spec/services/model_importers/team_importer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/model_importers/team_importer_spec.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ describe TeamImporter do
         @exp = @team_importer.import_experiment_template_from_dir(TEMPLATE_DIR,
                                                                   PROJECT_ID,
                                                                   USER_ID)
-        Experiments::GenerateWorkflowImageService.call(experiment_id: @exp.id)
+        Experiments::GenerateWorkflowImageService.call(experiment: @exp)
         @exp.reload
       end