A method to track wire or cable inventory in an inventory storage environment using an application on a mobile device, the method comprising: during a material intake phase: obtaining, by the mobile device, an identifier of a wire or cable reel; associating, by the mobile device, 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 storing, by the mobile device, the physical location, the length, and the type at a data store separate from the mobile device; during a material retrieval phase: receiving, at the mobile device, 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; navigating toward 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 locating 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, wherein the Bluetooth radio interface receives signals from a beacon located on the wire or cable reel. during a material intake phase: obtaining, by the mobile device, an identifier of a wire or cable reel; associating, by the mobile device, 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 storing, by the mobile device, the physical location, the length, and the type at a data store separate from the mobile device; obtaining, by the mobile device, an identifier of a wire or cable reel; associating, by the mobile device, 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 storing, by the mobile device, the physical location, the length, and the type at a data store separate from the mobile device; during a material retrieval phase: receiving, at the mobile device, 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; navigating toward 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 locating 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, wherein the Bluetooth radio interface receives signals from a beacon located on the wire or cable reel. receiving, at the mobile device, 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; navigating toward 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 locating 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, wherein the Bluetooth radio interface receives signals from a beacon located on the wire or cable reel.