EMKA Mobile

About the project

This case study walks through building a medical waste management app - from defining challenges, through design and development, to final outcomes. We delivered the project with EMKA S.A. to improve B2B customer service and automate pickup schedules and payments.

Safe, sustainable solutions: meet EMKA S.A.

EMKA specialises in disposing of medical and veterinary waste, including infectious, hazardous, and other waste streams. The company is driven by a passionate team of 100+ employees who see EMKA not only as a workplace, but as a place to pursue their ambitions, plans, and ideas. EMKA also plays an active role in social and family initiatives and in the local community.

EMKA offers clients flexible cooperation models. Long-term partnerships led to a service package for collecting and disposing of medical and veterinary waste that meets client expectations while reflecting Polish economic realities and local conditions. The company's success rests on openness to market signals, which drives continuous evolution and service optimisation.

EMKA history

EMKA brings 30 years of business experience, reflecting deep commitment to clients and the industry. The company has grown over the years while keeping a stable team that refined every functional aspect of the business. Today EMKA S.A. is a leading player in Poland and an expert in its field.

At EMKA, no client is insignificant. The company continuously strives to meet the needs and expectations of every customer, regardless of size or industry. Its approach is to deliver personalised solutions tailored to each client's unique circumstances.

EMKA is also committed to environmental responsibility and sustainable development. The company continually researches and implements new technologies and processes to minimise environmental impact. It is fully licensed and compliant with all relevant regulations and standards for medical and veterinary waste disposal.

Product vision for business clients

EMKA S.A.'s product vision is to offer a solution that simplifies medical waste collection for business clients such as hospitals, clinics, doctors, and veterinarians. The company understands how critical efficient, reliable medical waste management is for these organisations and aims to deliver a solution that meets those needs.

EMKA S.A.'s business goal is to improve customer service with an easy-to-use tool for monitoring order calendars and billing. This gives business clients a clear view of their schedule and makes payment tracking easier. The company also wants to automate customer service by reducing manual handling of pickup schedules and rescheduling.

That saves time and reduces errors for both the client and EMKA S.A. EMKA S.A. also aims to digitise the market by enabling integration with business data through the mobile app. The ultimate goal is higher customer satisfaction.

EMKA Mobile and GMI Software

EMKA S.A., together with GMI Software, built EMKA Mobile - an app that simplifies waste pickup management. Users can review and change schedules, cancel or request extra pickups, and receive automatic reminders.

The app supports automatic record-keeping and BDO reporting through free integration with the client account. It also enables waste transfer cards regardless of the carrier.

How the EMKA and GMI partnership started

When EMKA S.A., a company specialising in medical and veterinary waste disposal, decided to improve customer service and streamline its processes, it turned to GMI Software. The partnership began with an RFP where GMI impressed EMKA with its experience, culture, and supported technologies.

Next came Discovery & Design. The GMI team compared React Native and Ionic and chose to continue with the latest Ionic paired with Angular. That decision reflected EMKA's specific needs and the product's future growth potential.

Design and development of the medical waste management app

Development ran in weekly sprints with a joint EMKA and GMI team: a designer (EMKA), backend developers (EMKA), a proxy product owner (GMI), and JavaScript developers (GMI). This collaborative approach ensured both companies' needs and ideas shaped the entire process.

The partnership produced EMKA Mobile, which streamlines medical waste management for EMKA clients. The app makes it easy to monitor order schedules and billing, removes manual planning and rescheduling, and enables automatic BDO integration. It also integrates with other waste operators, making waste transfer card generation simpler than ever.

Keys to success in mobile medical waste management

Building EMKA Mobile was a joint effort by EMKA S.A. and GMI Software. The team brought diverse skills and expertise, each playing a critical role in the project's success.

EMKA S.A.'s IT Head and Project Manager provided the business perspective and ensured the app met the company's and its clients' specific needs. EMKA S.A.'s designer created a visually appealing, user-friendly interface.

On the technical side, backend developers from EMKA's IT partner integrated the app with existing company systems and ensured data security. GMI Software's Proxy Product Owner bridged the development team and the client, making sure the final product met expectations.

GMI Software's development team built the app using modern technologies and best practices. They used Ionic with Angular to deliver a high-performance, scalable application. The team followed Agile with weekly sprints to keep delivery on track.

Technologies and tools

• Ionic for cross-platform app development
• Angular for a robust, scalable front end
• Capacitor to run web apps natively on mobile devices
• GitLab + Codemagic CI/CD to automate build, test, and deployment
• AWS for hosting and cloud services such as storage, databases, and serverless functions
• JIRA for task organisation and team progress tracking
• Slack for real-time communication, discussions, and easy access to project documents and files
• Miro for team collaboration and joint project design

Challenges along the way

Like any project, EMKA Mobile development brought its own set of unique challenges. With a dedicated team and a positive mindset, we overcame them and delivered a high-quality product for our client.

One of the biggest challenges was working with an external backend team. Building trust and rapport was difficult at first, but open, transparent communication led to smooth collaboration. The external team was extremely helpful in onboarding us to their systems, which let us navigate existing infrastructure quickly and implement new solutions.

Another challenge was integrating BDO - Poland's waste database - into the app. The process proved far more complex than expected and required breaking the business process into smaller user stories. Through collaboration and many conversations, we delivered a fully stable solution. These challenges were not easy, but teamwork and determination helped us exceed client expectations.

Solving the hybrid-app keyboard puzzle - Dev Story

Virtual keyboard behaviour in web/hybrid apps was a problem our developer tackled on this project. The keyboard disrupted our layouts. On both platforms, the default behaviour shrinks the app screen by the keyboard height. That pushes the entire view up with a much smaller height that does not match normal mobile app screens.

Both platforms offer extra keyboard configuration options, but they mostly cover the view instead of pushing it up. In Capacitor.js you cannot control the keyboard on Android at runtime. Android options can only be changed in a config file and are fixed per build. Covering the view is worse because it can hide input fields and prevent users from seeing what they type.

Because EMKA app views were mostly split into top and bottom sections, our fix was to dynamically hide and show the bottom section (navigation), eliminating the push effect. Capacitor.js can detect when the virtual keyboard shows or hides, so our first approach used those signals to hide navigation dynamically.

Those signals fire only after the keyboard state changes, which caused a flicker in the navigation bar (the view was pushed up first, then hidden later). The final fix combined Web API focus events with Capacitor's KeyboardWillHide. Focus fires before the virtual keyboard appears in web engines on both platforms, so it was the only signal that let us change the navigation view before the keyboard showed - solving the problem.

The numbers speak for themselves

We call the EMKA Mobile journey "the road to success". From early conceptualisation to final launch, we were committed to building a user-friendly, efficient, reliable mobile solution for EMKA S.A. clients. It was not easy. With a solid team, modern technology, and a client-first approach, we overcame every obstacle along the way.

The first project phase was a mobile app for iOS and Android, version 1.0. It was a major undertaking, but 14 sprints and 1000+ hours of work delivered a product that exceeded client expectations. The results speak for themselves - EMKA Mobile was downloaded more than 5000 times in the first months after launch.

We did not stop there. The second phase extended the app with a web panel for clients - a natural next step to improve the overall user experience. The journey continues. We still work closely with EMKA S.A. on new features, bug fixes, and improvements. It is a true partnership, and we are proud of what we have achieved so far and excited for what comes next.

To be continued...

Ready to take your business further? With 16+ months of successful cooperation and 5000 app downloads in the first month, we have the know-how to deliver your project. Do not take our word for it - try the app on Google Play or the App Store. If you want to join our satisfied clients, get in touch. We are ready to help you reach the next level.