When I worked on the AWACS as a computer technician, we checked out all of our tools from a tool shop. Every toolbox has an inventory of all the tools inside it. Each area of the tool box has a foam cutout fit perfectly inside with shapes cutout of the tools that goes in the spots. Every single independent piece has it's own location. Every toolbox has the same layout and every tool is etched with a serial number that's tracked in a database and on paper.
When you checkout a toolbox, the tool shop inventories the tools, looking in every spot and touching every tool with their fingers while they count the total tools found per area. It's really easy to see if a tool is missing because of the cutouts and the count is a double check of the inventory checklist.
Then the technician takes the toolbox and re-performs the inventory, checking every level of the toolbox, counting the tools, and when all the tools are accounted for then the tool shop scans the box with the airmen's ID number. The airmen is now personally responsible for every tool, which is why they double check in case the shop screwed up.
When they check it back in, the same thing occurs backwards. If a tool is missing and they can't find it on them, they immediately report it to their shop. Every airplane they went to is "unofficially grounded" and they have one hour to find the tool. If it's not found, then every plane is officially grounded that they went to and it's reported to the squadron commander. Needless to say a lot more brass begins to get involved at that point which puts a lot more pressure on the shops and the airmen. It wasn't common every few months to see 30 airmen walking in a line down the flightline looking for a single screwdriver. A friend lost a flashlight when it fell down a hatch and ended up buried in insulation along the belly of the jet. That stupid flashlight took 15 airmen 2 hours to find.
This doesn't just occur for toolboxes, but every tool used for aircraft maintenance.
The USAF has very high standards of Q.A., their subcontractors however are the idiots in this scenario.