Methods and apparatus to track wire or cable reels in an inventory storage environment using a mobile device

An apparatus to track wire or cable inventory in an inventory storage environment using an application on a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

• an associator to associate, by a processor during a material intake phase, an identifier of a wire or cable reel with a physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, a length of a wire or cable on the wire or cable reel, and a type of the wire or cable on the wire or cable reel;
• a data store interface to store, by the processor during the material intake phase, the physical location, the length, and the type at a data store separate from the mobile device;
• a query builder to generate, by the processor during a material retrieval phase, a search query based on one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics, the search query to obtain a target location in response to the search query, the target location corresponding to the physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment;
• a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to locate the wire or cable reel based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location;
• and
• a Bluetooth radio transceiver to locate the wire or cable reel, without use of the GPS receiver, based on the target location when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location.

An article of manufacture comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a machine to:

• during a material intake phase:
• obtain an identifier of a wire or cable reel;
• associate the identifier of the wire or cable reel with a physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, a length of a wire or cable on the wire or cable reel, and a type of the wire or cable on the wire or cable reel;
• and
• store the physical location, the length, and the type at a network data store separate from the mobile device;
• during a material retrieval phase:
• receive a target location in response to a search query, the target location corresponding to the physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, and the search query being based on one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics;
• locate the wire or cable reel using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of the mobile device based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location;
• and
• locate the wire or cable reel using a Bluetooth radio interface of the mobile device, without the GPS receiver, based on the target location when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location.