Why do buyers in different industries prefer smart finders?

Introduction: How Will Smart Finders Reshape Global B2B asset management?

In the context of the deep integration of global supply chain and the acceleration of digital transformation, “Asset visibility” has become the core pain point of enterprise operation. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Global Supply Chain Resilience Report, 68% of the world’s enterprises have experienced operational disruption due to asset loss, mismatch or tracking lag, with an average single loss of up to $125,000; The logistics industry alone costs more than $45bn a year in lost goods and inventory errors, according to the mckinsey study. It is this rigid demand that is driving the smart Finder (Smart Finder/Smart Tag) upgrade from a consumer-level“Finder” to an“Asset management infrastructure” for the B2B market.

Smart finders are defined by technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) , ultra-wideband (UWB) , global positioning system (GPS) , near-field communication (NFC) , or cross-ecosystem networks such as Apple Find My or Google Find My Network, intelligent hardware for real-time positioning, condition monitoring, and data traceability of physical assets such as goods, equipment, tools, and samples. Unlike consumer products such as small tags for finding keys or backpacks, enterprise-grade smart finders emphasize durability, system compatibility, data security, and batch management capabilities, can Be Seamless docking enterprise resource planning (ERP) , manufacturing execution system (MES) or warehouse management system (WMS) , as a digital management of the“Nerve endings.”.

The global market for smart finders is no accident. After the 2020 pandemic, the complexity of telecommuting, distributed warehousing and cross-border supply chains increased dramatically, and the need for“Contactless asset management” among businesses-for example, amazon deployed more than 5 million Bluetooth smart tags in 2021 to its 175 storage centers around the world, reducing inventory count time from the traditional 72 hours to four hours Fedex’s GPS + BLE dual-mode smart Finder reduced cross-border cargo loss rates from 1.8% to 0.3% , saving more than $80 million annually.

This article will be based on the 2025 IoT Procurement Research Center (IRC) Global Smart Finder Industry Procurement Trends Report (a sample of 5,000 companies of all sizes in 20 major economies, with smes accounting for 60 per cent and large companies for 40 per cent) , combined with specific industry cases and data comparison, this paper deeply analyzes the underlying logic of purchasers’ preference for intelligent finders in core industries such as logistics, manufacturing, retail and medical care, and looks forward to the future trends and challenges of the global market.

The core advantage of intelligent Finder: the“Value common divisor” of B2B procurement

Before analyzing the differences across industries, we need to identify the common value that smart finders can provide to enterprise-level buyers — advantages that not only address the“Efficiency pain points” of traditional asset management, but also address the need to address the challenges that companies face, they translate directly into cost savings and revenue growth. The following five dimensions, combined with technical details and data support, illustrate its core competencies:

1. Precise positioning and real-time tracking: from“Fuzzy inference” to“Centimeter-level visibility”

Rather than using a single technology, the smart Finder can select a“Combination of technologies” based on the application scenario to achieve coverage at different distances and with varying accuracy:

Short-range high-precision: UWB technology (ultra-wideband) positioning accuracy of 10-30 cm, suitable for manufacturing production line tools, medical operating room equipment, etc. need“Real-time positioning” scenarios. For example, when BMW started using UWB smart tags at its Munich plant, the time it took workers to find specific parts fell from an average of 15 minutes to 90 seconds, and the rate of idle equipment dropped by 22% .

Medium distance convenience: Ble 5.2 technology transmission distance up to 100 meters, support for batch connection (single gateway can connect 1000 + tags) , suitable for retail stores inventory, Storage Shelf Management. According to wal-mart’s U.S. stores, the BLE tag increased the accuracy of product location from 85% to 98% , and the efficiency with which store employees restock goods increased by 30% .

Long-distance wide coverage: GPS + cellular network (4G/5g) combination for cross-border logistics, fleet transportation, global positioning coverage, support real-time update the location of goods. The introduction of the technology in DHL’s cross-border transport business has led to a 65 per cent reduction in manual customer service requests from customers checking the status of cargo and a 78 per cent drop in complaints about“Unknown locations”.

Cross-ecosystem additions: Apple Find My and Google Find My Network form a“Crowdsourced Network” of billions of consumer devices (phones, tablets) , even if the tags are separated from the enterprise’s own gateway, it can also upload location anonymously through the surrounding user equipment, which is suitable for pet tracking and high-value package location. For example, pet supply retailer Petco’s Find My-compatible smart tag increased users’ success rate in finding lost pets from 40% to 89% .

2. Visual asset management: from“Manual inventory” to“Automatic synchronization”

Traditional asset management relies on manual records (such as Excel spreadsheets and paper ledgers) , which are time-consuming and prone to human error, companies that don’t use smart finders have an average error rate of 7.2% , compared with 0.9% for those that do.

At the heart of the Smart Finder’s visual management is“Real-time data synching”: via the tag’s built-in sensors (location, movement status) and cloud-based backend, companies can see it visually on their dashboards:

Real-time location of assets (e.g. “Shelf A-3”, “Transport vehicle x-35.1 ° N”)

Asset status (e.g. “In use”, “Idle”, “To be repaired”) ;

Historical trajectory (e.g. “Equipment has moved 3.2 km from workshop A to workshop C in the past 72 hours”) .

For example, MEDLINE, the world’s largest medical device rental company, manages 200,000 devices (such as wheelchairs and monitors) in 500 hospitals in North  through its smart Finder, reducing the monthly count time from 120 hours to eight hours, and avoiding duplicate purchases of equipment“Left in the room,” saved $12 million a year.

3. Reducing losses and operating costs: from“Passive acceptance” to“Active prevention and control”

The cost of lost, stolen or idle assets is one of the core drivers of a smart Finder for enterprise procurement. According to the IRC report, the cost savings associated with smart finders across different industries are as follows:

In addition to directly reducing loss costs, intelligent finders can also reduce indirect costs by“Optimizing resource utilization.”. For example, Starbucks, the U.S. restaurant chain, used BLE smart tags to manage its coffee machines, freezers and other equipment in its stores. It found that 30% of its equipment was“Too idle”– after adjusting its scheduling, reduced equipment purchases by 15% , saving $4.5 m a year in procurement costs.

4. Cross-system compatibility: from“Data silos” to“Seamless integration”

One of the capabilities most valued by enterprise buyers is the ability to integrate intelligent finders into existing digital systems. The major smart Finder vendors all provide open apis (e.g. REST API, MQTT protocol) that support interfacing with mainstream ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics, as well as Salesforce’s customer management system and Zebra’s warehouse management system, don’t-Drop autosync.

Bosch, the global car parts supplier, for example, has plugged smart Finder data into its SAP ERP system, automatic recording of the whole process of“Parts warehousing-production requisition-finished product warehousing” is realized: when the production line requisitions a certain batch of parts, the Finder automatically triggers the inventory reduction, and the ERP system updates the inventory level in real time, production interruptions due to“Manual input delays” were avoided-interruptions were reduced from 4-5 per month to 0 per month, resulting in an 8% increase in productivity.

5. Data-driven decision-making: From ’emPirical Judgment’ to ‘quantitative optimization’

A smart Finder is not just a“Tracking tool,” it’s a“Data acquisition terminal”– using long-term accumulated data on location, movement, frequency of use, and more, companies can use back-end analytics to see where they can optimize their operations:

Logistics route optimization: identify redundant routes by analyzing freight trajectories. For example, UPS uses smart Finder data to reroute North n shipments, reducing average miles traveled by 18 kilometers and saving $32 million a year in fuel costs.

Equipment Maintenance Prediction: monitoring equipment performance through vibration sensors built into the label-the system automatically issues a maintenance alert when the vibration frequency is abnormal. For example, Smart Finder data from a Siemens factory in Germany shows that a certain type of machine tool is prone to failure within 72 hours after“Peak vibration exceeds 0.5 g”, and equipment downtime is reduced by 40 per cent after early maintenance.

Inventory demand forecasting: forecasting the rate of inventory depletion by analyzing how often items are“Looked up”. UK retailer Tesco, for example, used smart Finder data to find that milk was“Looked up” 2.3 times more often on weekends than on weekdays, adjusting for the pace of restocking and seeing a 28 per cent drop in out-of-stock rates, at the same time, it is reducing the cost of out-of-date inventory.

Comparative analysis of industry data: “Difference Map” of purchasing preference

According to the IRC 2025“Global Smart Finder Industry Procurement Trends Report”, there are significant differences in the proportion of smart Finder applications, procurement preferences and core demands in different industries. The following table expands the dimensions of“Typical cases”, “Average annual purchasing cost” and“Efficiency improvement rate” to show industry differences:

Source: IRC 2025 Global Smart Finder Industry Sourcing Trends report, corporate earnings and case studies

As can be seen from the table, the logistics and warehousing industry is the largest purchaser of intelligent Finder (45% of the application) . The core reason lies in its strong liquidity of assets (goods) and wide cross-regional scope, the need for full link visibility was most pressing, while education and office applications accounted for the lowest proportion (12 per cent) , mainly due to low asset values, low mobility and low procurement priorities.

The underlying cause of industry preference: the“Precise matching” of pain points and values

The preference of buyers in various industries is not random selection, but the deep matching of“Industry pain point” and“Intelligent Finder function”. The following six core industries, from the“Pain point scene-Finder value-procurement decision logic” three levels of analysis, and combined with specific data and case description:

1. The logistics and warehousing industry: “Full link visibility” to tackle cross-border transport anxiety

Key pain points

Cross-border transport“Black Box”: cargo from the Port of departure to the port of destination, through shipping, land transport, customs clearance and other links, traditional logistics can only provide“Node update”(such as“Has arrived in the port of Los Angeles”) , they can not be tracked in real time and can take days to process if they are delayed or lost.

Warehouse inventory“Time-consuming”: large warehousing centers (such as Amazon FBA warehouse) shelf number of tens of thousands of groups, manual inventory to close the warehouse or night operations, a single inventory time of 3-5 days, and the margin of error is high (7.2% on average) .

Cargo damage“Hard to determine responsibility”: cross-border transport of cargo damage rate of about 2.3% , but due to the lack of real-time status records, it is impossible to determine where the damage occurred (such as sea turbulence, land handling) , this leads to blame-shifting between shippers and shippers.

Finder core values

Full-link real-time tracking: GPS + BLE dual-mode tags can record the location of goods in the whole process of shipping (GPS positioning the ship) , warehousing (BLE positioning the shelves) , and last-mile delivery (GPS + mobile crowdsourcing) , customers can view it in real time through a small program, without having to manually check. For example, DHL’s“Smart Logistics Dashboard” for customers has reduced the response time for cargo queries from 2 hours to 10 seconds and increased customer satisfaction from 82% to 96% .

Unmanned inventory: covering the entire warehouse through the BLE Gateway, the tag automatically sends location data to the gateway, and the system automatically takes inventory 24 hours a day without human intervention. For example, after Amazon introduced the intelligent Finder in the FBA warehouse in Phoenix, the frequency of inventory is increased from once a month to once a day, and the error rate of inventory is reduced from 6.8% to 0.7% , order cancellations due to“Low inventory” dropped by 23% .

Damage traceability: some high-end smart finders have built-in temperature, humidity, vibration and light sensors that record environmental data during cargo transport-for example, if the label detects“Peak vibration over 2g” and“Sudden increase in light intensity”(package breakage) , the system will automatically mark the time and location to identify the responsible party. For example, Lineage Logistics, a global cold-chain Logistics company, used a Finder with temperature and humidity sensors to track drug shipments. The time it took to determine responsibility for damage was reduced from 72 hours to four hours, and the rate of disputes dropped by 58 per cent.

Logic of purchasing preferences

Logistics companies prefer“Long endurance + durability + dual-mode technology” when purchasing:

Battery life ≥18 months (due to long cross-border shipment cycles, batteries can not be changed frequently)

Protection Level IP67 or above (for shipping wet and warehouse dust environment) ;

Must support GPS + BLE dual-mode (covering long-distance transportation and short-distance storage scenarios) .

According to the IRC report, 85% of logistics buyers ranked“Battery life” as their primary metric, followed by“Positioning accuracy”(78%) and“Sensor functionality”(62%) .

2. Manufacturing: “High-precision tracking” boosts productivity

Key pain points

Tools can not be found: in industries such as automotive and electronics manufacturing, the average worker spends 15-20 minutes a day looking for tools, resulting in production interruptions.

Component“Mismatches”: similar types of components (e.g. , mobile phone motherboards, car screws) are easily confused and, if misused, can lead to reworking of the finished product-the IRC report shows that manufacturers that do not use intelligent tracking, component mismatches average 3.5% and can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 per rework.

Equipment“Idle waste”: the high-value equipment (such as CNC machine tools, welding robots) in the factory is distributed in different workshops, some equipment is too idle due to“Opaque information”, some workshops have to wait in line.

Finder core values

UWB high-precision positioning: the centimeter-level positioning ability of UWB technology can accurately position the tool to the“Left drawer of a workbench”, and workers can navigate to find the tool through the workshop platform. At Toyota’s Nagoya plant in Japan, for example, where 20,000 production tools were fitted with UWB smart tags, tool-finding time was reduced from an average of 15 minutes to 90 seconds, and production line downtime was reduced by 18 per cent, $21 million in annual cost savings.

Parts traceability: attach NFC smart tags to each part and enter model, batch, and production time-workers scan the code on their phones to ensure they don’t misuse it. For example, the introduction of NFC tags at Samsung Electronics’ mobile phone factory in Vietnam reduced component mismatches from 3.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent, saving $12m a year in rework costs.

Equipment scheduling optimization: an intelligent Finder records the frequency and location of equipment use, and the system automatically generates“Equipment utilization reports”-for example, a welding robot in a workshop is only 40% utilized, another shop is at 90 percent utilization, and the scheduling reduces the purchase of new equipment. For example, Siemens Munich, Germany, reduced equipment purchases by 15% and saved $8.5 million a year in procurement costs.

Logic of purchasing preferences

“Precision + industrial environmental adaptability + System Integration” is a priority for manufacturing companies when purchasing:

Positioning accuracy ≤30 cm (UWB preferred)

High and low temperature range should cover-20 °C ~ 85 °C (to deal with high temperature welding workshop, low temperature storage scene) ;

Must support MES/ERP system docking (to achieve linkage of production data and asset data) .

According to the IRC report, 79% of manufacturing purchasers will require a“MES integration test report” and 68% will field test the label’s stability in high temperatures and dust.

3. Retail and supply chain industries: “Low-cost batch deployment” optimizes inventory

Key pain points

Inventory counts are“Inefficient”: traditional retail stores are closed or conducted in the wee hours of the morning, 300-square-meter stores take 4-6 hours for a single count, and the accuracy rate is low (85% on average) , as a result, 12% of stores are out of stock when they can not find what they have.

The retail industry has an annual theft rate of about 1.5% , with a global annual loss of more than $94 billion. Traditional anti-theft tags (such as RFID hard tags) can only alarm at export, and can not locate stolen goods.

Cross-store transfer“Slow”: the traditional process of transferring goods between stores (e.g. from a downtown store to a suburban store) requires manual recording of the movement of goods out of the store, into the store, and into the store. The whole process takes 2-3 days, and there is a risk of“Lost allocation”.

Finder core values

Low-cost bulk inventory: BLE’s smart tags can be as low as $3 to $5 and can be deployed as many as 500 to 2,000 per store (covering most items) , a 300-square-meter store can be counted in 30 minutes with 98 percent accuracy. For example, when wal-mart rolled out BLE labels to its 4,700 US stores, the stock-out rate fell from 12 per cent to 4 per cent, and the proportion of customers abandoning purchases because they were“Out of stock” fell by 65 per cent.

Stolen Goods Location: some smart finders support ‘remote alarms’-which automatically send a location alert to a shop assistant’s mobile phone when goods have been taken 100 metres outside the store, shop assistants can retrieve items based on their real-time location. For example, when Target, the US department store chain, introduced the feature, the theft rate fell from 1.8 per cent to 0.6 per cent, reducing losses by $32m a year.

Cross-store transfer visualization: after the transfer of goods with BLE tags, headquarters can view the real-time goods in the“Transfer out of the store-transport vehicles-transfer into the store” location, transfer time from 2-3 days to 1 day, loss of transfer rate reduced from 3.5% to 0.4% . UK retailer Tesco, for example, has seen a 50 per cent increase in the efficiency of cross-store transfers and a 70 per cent drop in customer complaints due to“Transfer delays”.

Logic of purchasing preferences

Retailers prioritise“Cost + ease of use + volume management” when purchasing:

Single tag costs ≤ $5(cost sensitive due to large deployments) ;

Support for“Zero Training” operations (shop assistants don’t need specialized skills, mobile phone code scanning can be used)

Background can support 1000 + tags at the same time management (covering a single store full range of goods) .

According to the IRC report, 92% of retail buyers ranked“Unit price” as their top priority, followed by“Stocktaking efficiency”(85%) and“Back-office complexity”(76%) .

4. Pets and consumer electronics: ‘Eco-compatibility’ improves user experience

Key pain points

Lost Pets are hard to find: around 15% of pets are lost worldwide. Traditional collars only show the owner’s contact information. The success rate is less than 40% , and the average recovery time is up to seven days.

Consumer electronics“After-sales tracking difficult”: mobile phones, laptops and other consumer electronics products in the after-sales maintenance and transportation, prone to“Lost” or“Wrong”, users need to wait 5-7 days to check the progress, low satisfaction.

Consumers ‘don’t want to download new apps’ : Consumer Product users are less receptive to ‘extra download apps’-70 per cent of people surveyed would forgo smart tracking products because they ‘need to download a dedicated App’ .

Finder core values

Cross-ecosystem location: Apple Find My or Google Find My Network-compatible smart tags that make it easier to locate pets or packages directly through the phone’s built-in“Find” feature, without the need to download a new App. For example, Whistle’s Find My tag increased the success rate of finding a lost pet from 38% to 89% , and the average retrieval time from 7 days to 12 hours.

After-sales transportation visualization: consumer electronics manufacturers (such as Dell and Hewlett-packard) attach BLE smart labels to the boxes of maintenance equipment. Users enter the label number through the manufacturer’s website, you can see the progress of repairs and transportation in real time, without having to call customer service. For example, after the introduction of this feature in Dell computers, the waiting time for customer after-sales queries was reduced from 5 minutes to 10 seconds, and the after-sales satisfaction rate increased from 78% to 94% .

Small and beautiful design: pet tags should be light (≤30g) and waterproof (IP68) to avoid affecting pet activities; consumer electronic package tags should be small (≤5cm × 3cm) and take up no extra space. For example, Apple Partner Chipolo’s Find My tag, which weighs just 19 gigabytes and is IP68 waterproof, can be attached directly to a pet’s collar, and has sold more than 2 million units a year.

Logic of purchasing preferences

The PET and consumer electronics industry prioritizes“Eco-compatibility + look + user experience” when purchasing:

Must Be Apple MFI certified or Google Works with Find My certified

The design must be aesthetically pleasing (e.g. round, square, with custom color support)

≥12 months of battery life (users don’t want to change batteries frequently) .

According to the IRC report, 88 percent of pet industry buyers would choose the label“Find My certified,” and 75 percent of consumer electronics buyers would include“Design.”.

5. Healthcare and research: ‘Safe and compliant’ to protect sensitive assets

Key pain points

Medical samples“High risk of loss”: Blood, tissue samples in the hospital transport (such as from the laboratory to the operating room) , prone to“Manual handover missed” loss, a single sample loss can cost $2,000 to $5,000(including re-collection and testing costs) and may delay patient treatment.

Medical devices“Difficult to manage”: hospital wheelchairs, monitors, defibrillators and other mobile devices, distributed in different departments, nurses spend an average of 25 minutes a day to find equipment, leading to increased risk of delays in first aid.

Data“Privacy compliance pressure”: the healthcare industry is subject to HIPAA, GDPR and other regulations, and asset tracking data needs to be encrypted, to protect patients’ privacy.

Finder core values

Full sample traceability: the medical-grade intelligent Finder supports a“Hand-over record” function-every time a sample is transferred from one department to another, the medical staff needs to scan the code to confirm it, the system automatically records the person, time and location of the transfer, forming an unalterable traceable ledger. For example, when the Mayo Clinic fitted 100,000 medical samples with encrypted smart tags, the sample loss rate fell from 2.1 per cent to 0 per cent, and the retroactive ledger passed 100 per cent of HIPAA audits.

Equipment fast positioning: UWB high-precision tags can be accurate to the location of medical equipment“A ward bedside table”, nurses can navigate to find equipment through the hospital intranet tablet, search time reduced from 25 minutes to 3 minutes. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, for example, the introduction of the feature led to an 88 percent reduction in first-aid equipment response time and a 5 percent increase in patient success rates.

Data Encryption Security: Medical Grade Finder uses AES-256 encryption algorithm to store data, only authorized medical personnel can see, and data transmission process through TLS 1.3 encryption, avoid being stolen. The Smart Finder system at Munich University Hospital in Germany, for example, has reduced data breaches from two to three a year to zero through GDPR compliance.

Logic of purchasing preferences

The healthcare industry prioritises“Compliance + safety + durability” when purchasing:

Must comply with HIPAA, GDPR and other industry regulations and provide compliance certification reports

Data encryption level ≥ AES-256, support hierarchical management (such as nurses can only view the location of equipment, administrators can view all data) ;

Medical grade PC or silica gel, alcohol disinfection support (hospital daily disinfection requirements) .

According to the IRC report, 100 per cent of healthcare purchasers’ associations require manufacturers to provide“Compliance documentation” and 95 per cent test labels for functional stability after alcohol disinfection.

6. Fleets and the travel industry: ‘anti-climate’ means safer transport

Key pain points

“Low scheduling efficiency” of vehicles: the vehicles of car rental companies and freight fleets are distributed in different outlets. Traditional scheduling relies on manual statistics of“Vehicle location and status”, resulting in idle vehicles in some outlets, some outlets have insufficient vehicles, and the waiting time for users is as long as 2-3 hours.

Cargo“High risk of theft”: convoys carrying high-value goods (e.g. electronics, luxury goods) are vulnerable to theft. Traditional GPS can only locate the vehicle, not whether the cargo has been unloaded, on average, thefts are found four hours later.

Equipment“High temperature resistance is poor”: the vehicle in the summer sun, the car temperature can reach 60-80 °C, ordinary smart tags prone to“High temperature failure”, leading to positioning interruption.

Finder core values

Intelligent fleet scheduling: GPS + UWB dual-mode tag can locate the location and use status of vehicles in real time (such as“Rented”, “To be cleaned” and“Schedulable”) . The scheduling center optimizes the distribution through the background to reduce the empty rate of vehicles. For example, US car rental company Hertz’s deployment of smart tags to its fleet of 500,000 vehicles led to a 35 per cent increase in vehicle scheduling efficiency, a reduction in waiting time from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes and an 18 per cent increase in rental orders.

Anti-theft alarm: a smart tag with a vibration sensor that detects when goods have been forcibly unloaded-when a vehicle stops at an unscheduled location and the vibration exceeds a threshold, the system automatically sends alarm messages to the dispatch center and tracks the location of the cargo in real time. For example, the U.S. freight company J. B. After Hunt introduced the feature, the theft rate fell from 2.3% to 0.5% , reducing losses by $48 million a year.

High temperature stable operation: team-specific smart tag using high temperature chip (operating temperature ≤120 °C) and flame retardant shell, even in the summer car high temperature environment, can also maintain stable positioning. For example, tests by dubai-based logistics company Aramex (land surface temperatures can reach 50 °C + in summer) showed that heat-resistant tags had a location disruption rate of just 0.3% , compared with 15% for normal tags.

Logic of purchasing preferences

“Environmental Adaptability + anti-theft function + positioning stability” is a priority in fleet industry procurement:

Working temperature should cover -30 °C ~ 120 °C (for cold winter and tropical summer) ;

Support“Vibration Alarm + leaving the vehicle alarm” dual anti-theft function;

GPS positioning accuracy ≤10 meters (to ensure accurate vehicle location) .

According to the IRC report, 90% of fleet buyers test tag stability at high and low temperatures, and 82% request“False alarm rate” data (≤0.1%) .

Global sourcing trends and Data Insights: growth, differences and challenges

The global market for intelligent finders is growing rapidly, while regional demand differences and technology iterations are also bringing new options for buyers. The following analysis combines the IRC report with data from third-party organizations such as Gartner and IDC to analyze the four dimensions of market size, B2B share, functional trends, and regional differences, and points out the core challenges faced by buyers:

1. Global market size: $6 billion by 2026, CAGR + 18%

According to the joint projections of IPC and IDC, the global market for smart finders is expected to grow at an accelerating rate:

2023: $3.2 billion (consumer 65% , B2B 35%)

2024: $4 billion (consumer 58% , B2B 42%) ;

2025: $4.8 billion (52% consumer, 48% B2B)

2026: $6 billion (50% consumer, 50% B2B) .

The core drivers of growth are in two areas:

B2B digital transformation: 76% of global enterprises listed“Digital Asset Management” as a strategic smart Finder for 2024-20262026 as a low-cost landing tool and a priority procurement category. For example, according to Microsoft’s 2024 Global Enterprise Customer Survey, 68% of smes plan to purchase smart finders within 2 years.

Consumer-level ecological expansion: the number of Apple Find My and Google Find My Network devices has exceeded 6 billion, forming a“Tracking Network for all.” Driving growth in consumer smart tagsー global sales of consumer smart finders reached 120 million in 2024, up 45% year-on-year.

2. Rising share of B2B purchases: from“Tools” to“Core assets”

The share of B2B procurement rose from 35 per cent in 2023 to 50 per cent in 2026 as companies moved from“Pure tracking” to“Whole process management” of smart finders:

Changes in sourcing patterns: from ‘one-time purchases’ to ‘long-term rentals’ — for example, Flexport’s ‘Smart Finder Rental Service’ , for $1.20-$2.50 a month, including equipment maintenance and data services, small and medium-sized businesses are looking to rent (up from 15% in 2023 to 38% in 2024) .

Growth: the average annual Smart Finder purchase for large enterprises increased from $800,000 in 2023 to $1.2 million in 2024, this is largely due to the expansion of deployments from“Core assets” to“Full asset classes”. Amazon, for example, purchased $120 million worth of smart finders in 2024, covering goods, tools and equipment at all warehousing centers around the world.

3. Trend of functional integration: from“Single tracking” to“Multi-sensor fusion”

The Smart Finder of the future will no longer be limited to“Location”, but will integrate more sensors and AI analytics capabilities into a“Multi-purpose data terminal”:

Environmental monitoring integration: temperature and humidity, air pressure, light sensors become standard, suitable for cold chain logistics, drug transportation. For example, Swisslog, a Swiss cold chain company, has launched an intelligent Finder that can monitor the temperature of a drug in real time and automatically alert when the temperature exceeds 2-8 °C. This has been adopted by pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

AI predictive maintenance: using vibration and accelerometer sensor data, AI algorithms can predict equipment failures-for example, GE Healthcare’s intelligent Finder analyzes vibration data from monitors, a 72-hour warning of“Motor failure” reduces downtime by 40% .

Passive technology breakthrough: passive NFC tags (without batteries) cost less than $1 and are suitable for low-value assets such as stationery and packaging. For example, IKEA deployed 50 million passive NFC tags in global stores in 2024 for furniture inventory management at a procurement cost of only $3 million.

4. Regional differences in demand: North ‘s emphasis on compliance, Asia’s on cost and Europe’s on environmental protection

There are significant regional differences in purchasing preferences around the world, which are mainly influenced by regulations, economic levels and environmental protection concepts:

For example, when purchasing in Europe, 65% of companies will require the label material to be recyclable (e.g. cornstarch-based plastic) and the packaging to meet the EU Ecocert certification, while when purchasing in Asia, smes, 80% will be“Unit price ≤ $5” as a hard condition, preferred BLE technology (cost less than UWB) .

5. Core challenges for buyers

Despite the significant advantages of intelligent finders, purchasers still face three major challenges in actual selection and deployment:

Technical selection difficulties: different technologies (UWB/BLE/GPS) are applied in different scenarios, and some purchasers do not understand the technical differences, resulting in selection errors. For example, a south-east Asian electronics factory mistakenly selected a GPS tag management tool (which has low indoor positioning accuracy) , resulting in a positioning error of 50 metres and a $200,000 loss when it had to re-purchase UWB tags.

System integration is complex: some older ERP systems (such as SAP versions over 10 years old) do not support open apis, require additional interfaces, and increase integration costs by 30%-50% . For example, a traditional U.S. manufacturer spent $800,000 to upgrade its ERP system for a smart Finder, far exceeding the $500,000 cost of purchasing the tags.

Data security risk: the asset data transmitted by the intelligent Finder may contain trade secrets (such as logistics routes and production plans) , and some small and medium-sized manufacturers’ tags have data encryption vulnerabilities. According to IRC’s 2024 test, 25% of low-cost smart finders are at risk of“Data transmission in clear text”, making them vulnerable to hackers.

Typical enterprise case study: Intelligent Finders’ Value Delivery’

In order to show the application effect of intelligent Finder in various industries more intuitively, the following five cases of global well-known enterprises are selected from the three dimensions of“Pain point-solution-effect” to provide reference for buyers:

1. DHL: dual-mode labelling unlocks the black box of cross-border transport

Pain Point

DHL cross-border shipping business faces three major problems: 1 the location of goods can only be updated through the port node, customer queries frequently; 3 it is difficult to determine the responsibility for the damage of goods.

The solution

DHL partnered with Smart Finder Tile to deploy 1.2 million GPS + BLE dual-mode tags:

Shipping phase: the GPS module records the location of containers (accuracy ≤10 meters) and uploads it to the DHL logistics platform through the satellite network;

Port Yard phase: Ble Module and yard gateway docking, positioning containers in the yard of the specific location (accuracy ≤3 meters) ;

Damage traceability: the label built-in vibration sensor, record the vibration peak in transportation, more than 2G automatic marking.

Results

Reduce customer query requests by 65% and save $12 million a year in customer service costs;

Port pick-up time was reduced from an average of 4 hours to 1.5 hours, and yard efficiency increased by 62%

The time for determining cargo damage liability was shortened from 72 hours to 4 hours, and the dispute rate decreased by 58% .

2. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) : UWB tags improve production line efficiency

Pain Point

At Toyota’s Nagoya Plant, which has 20,000 production-line tools such as torque wrenches and inspection equipment, workers spend 15-20 minutes a day looking for tools, as a result, 3.2% of finished products are reworked.

The solution

Toyota introduces UWB Smart Finder system:

Tool Management: 20,000 tools are equipped with UWB tags, 500 UWB gateways are deployed in the workshop, and workers find tools through tablet navigation;

Parts traceability: bind NFC tags for parts, input model information, workers receive the verification before scanning code;

System Integration: Connect UWB data to Toyota MES system to update the status of tools and parts in real time.

Results

Reduce tool finding time by 90% , line downtime by 18% , and annual cost savings of $21 million;

The component mismatch rate was reduced from 3.2% to 0.1% , resulting in annual cost savings of $12 million in rework

Equipment utilization increased by 22% and productivity by 8% .

3. Wal-mart (retailing) : BLE label Optimized Inventory Management

Pain Point

Wal-mart’s 4,700 stores in the U.S. are closed in the wee hours of the morning for a single count that takes 4 to 6 hours and is only 85% accurate. Meanwhile, 12% of the goods are out of stock, leading to customer churn.

The solution

Wal-mart partnered with Zebra Technologies to deploy 200 million BLE smart tags:

Inventory: Clerks Scan Ble tags through mobile apps, 300 square meters store inventory time reduced to 30 minutes;

Shortage Warning: the system real-time monitoring of commodity inventory level, below the safety threshold automatically remind replenishment;

Anti-theft function: after the goods are taken out of the store 100 meters, the system sends a location warning to the clerk.

Results

Inventory accuracy increased from 85% to 98% and stocktaking efficiency increased by 90%

The rate of out-of-stock has dropped from 12% to 4% , and the proportion of customers abandoning purchases because of out-of-stock has dropped by 65%

Theft of merchandise dropped from 1.8% to 0.6% , reducing annual losses by $32 million.

4. Mayo Clinic (healthcare) : secure samples with encrypted tags

Pain Point

The Mayo Clinic transports 100,000 medical samples (blood, tissue) per year, with a 2.1% loss rate, and the retrospective ledger does not meet HIPAA compliance requirements; Nurses spent an average of 25 minutes searching for wheelchairs and monitors, affecting the efficiency of first aid.

The solution

Mayo clinic deploys medical-grade encrypted smart Finder:

Sample tracking: AES-256 encryption chip is embedded in the sample label to record the transfer person, time and location. The data can only be viewed by medical staff

Equipment positioning: 5000 medical devices are equipped with UWB tags, and nurses can find the devices through the hospital tablet navigation;

Compliance audits: HIPAA compliance reports are automatically generated to support audit traceability.

Results

The sample loss rate decreased from 2.1% to 0% , and the HIPAA audit pass rate was 100% ;

Medical device search time was reduced from 25 to 3 minutes, and emergency response time was reduced by 88% ;

Staff productivity increased by 15% and patient satisfaction increased from 82% to 96% .

5. Hertz (fleet industry) : heat-resistant tags make car rentals more efficient

Pain Point

Hertz has a fleet of 500,000 vehicles in the United States. Vehicle scheduling relies on manual statistics, and the waiting time for users is 2.5 hours. At the same time, the high temperature in the car in the summer causes the interruption rate of common tag positioning to reach 15% , affecting the scheduling accuracy.

The solution

Hertz deploys heat-resistant GPS + UWB dual-mode tags:

Fleet scheduling: tag real-time upload vehicle location and status (rented/to be cleaned) , scheduling center to optimize the allocation;

Anti-theft alarm: when the vehicle stops at a non-designated place and the vibration exceeds the threshold, the system will automatically give an alarm;

Environmental adaptation: tag using high temperature chip (working temperature ≤120 °C) , summer positioning interruption rate down to 0.3% .

Results

Vehicle scheduling efficiency improved by 35 per cent, with user waiting times reduced from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes

Rental orders increased 18% and revenue increased $120 million

Vehicle theft dropped from 2.3% to 0.5% , reducing annual losses by $48 million.

Conclusion: Smart Finder becomes global B2B asset management“Infrastructure”

Through data analysis, case disassembly, and trend insight into six core industries around the world, smart finders have emerged as an important tool for business-to-business asset management, it is clear that the smart Finder has evolved from a consumer“Finder” to an“Asset management infrastructure” for the B2B market, it solves the fundamental pain point of“Can’t see, can’t find, can’t manage” enterprise-level assets.

The underlying logic of buyers’ preference for intelligent finders in various industries is highly consistent:

Accurate matching industry pain points: the logistics industry needs“Full link visibility”, the manufacturing industry needs“High-precision tracking”, the medical industry needs“Compliance security”, intelligent finders meet differentiated needs through a combination of technologies (UWB/BLE/GPS)

Direct translation of Business Value: from reducing asset losses and improving operational efficiency to reducing procurement costs, the benefits of smart finders can be quantified-the IRC report shows that companies that introduce smart finders, the average ROI is 287% and the payback time is only 6-8 months

Adapt to the global digital trend: with the popularity of enterprise ERP, MES systems, intelligent Finder as a“Data acquisition terminal”, has become an important part of the digital system, help Enterprises to realize the transformation from experience management to data management.

In the future, with the improvement of IoT ecology (such as 5G network coverage, Find My network expansion) , the optimization of AI algorithms (such as predictive maintenance, intelligent scheduling) and the breakthrough of sustainable technologies (such as solar power labels, recyclable materials) , the development of IOT technology has become a hot topic, the application scenarios of intelligent Finder will be further extended to new energy (battery transportation tracking) , agriculture (agricultural equipment management) , aerospace (parts traceability) and other emerging industries.

For global buyers, choosing an intelligent Finder is no longer a question of“Do I Need One?” It is a question of“How to choose the right”ーー it is suggested to evaluate from the four dimensions of“Clear industry pain points-technology selection and matching-system integration capabilities-compliance and security assurance”, give priority to vendors with industry cases, open apis and compliance certification to ensure that intelligent finders truly become a“Booster” for the digital transformation of the enterprise rather than a“Cost burden”.

As the IRC report puts it: “Over the next three to five years, smart finders will become as ubiquitous as bar codes-any physical asset that needs to be managed will have a ‘smart tag’ that can be seen and managed globally in real time.”