What is Tool Management? Or, "where are my tools...?"

So you're working in a machine shop.
You have control over your product inventory, control over your raw stock... but you think you might have problems with your tooling.

You may have a tool crib software to try and fix the problem, such as Cribmaster or Autocrib, and this system set up to track your inventory levels. You might even be tracking min/max levels or triggering reorder points with your system.

But what happens to the tools when they are sent out to the shop floor? Using your existing system, it's highly likely that nobody knows!

That's right, nobody knows for sure:

• What was sent out of your tool crib
• Where it went
• And when it's coming back

Now that's a problem...

The solution is to implement a tool management software!

Do you have experience with tool management? Have you implemented a solution in the past? How did it work? What software did you use?
I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!