Visual control
Foam
See immediately when a tool is missing.
Bespoke foam and organised storage. The tool sits in black; the pocket underneath is red. In stock and shipping from Fort Worth, Texas.
Get Organized™ · Tool control
Tool control systems: visual, digital, intelligent
Tool control is knowing, at any moment, that every tool is where it should be, and knowing who to ask when it is not. Teng Tools does it in three tiers. Foam trays make a missing tool visible from across the bay. KIT adds a digital record, audits and calibration dates behind the same foam. Smart Box adds automated detection, individual user access and live status on the cabinet. You start at the tier your risk demands and move up without replacing the tools.
Three tiers
The right level of tool control
As the need for control, traceability and automation grows, the same foam kits move up a tier rather than being replaced.
Digital control
KIT
Know what should be there, record checks and manage tooling digitally.
QR label per drawer, phone app, calibration dates, exportable records.
Intelligent control
Smart Box
Know which tools are present and keep a traceable record of tool activity, automatically.
RFID or keycard access, sensing in the foam layout, screen on the cabinet.
Which tier do you need
Capability by tier
Smart Box is the answer where tool accountability is critical, several users or shifts share tooling, audit requirements are demanding, tool loss is an operational risk, or real-time visibility is required.
| Capability | Foam | KIT | Smart Box |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual tool control (foam) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Digital asset register | – | Yes | Yes1 |
| Electronic auditing | – | Yes | Yes1 |
| Issue reporting | – | Yes | Yes1 |
| Tool standardisation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automated tool detection | – | – | Yes |
| User-controlled access | – | – | Yes |
| Automatic transaction logging | – | – | Yes |
| Real-time tool status | – | – | Yes |
| Best suited to | Any bay, any budget | Digital management and scheduled accountability | Critical real-time control and traceability |
¹ Depending on configuration. When knowing that a tool is missing is not enough, you need greater visibility of tool activity, access and accountability: that is the Smart Box tier.
How the mechanisms compare
Five ways a cabinet can know a tool is there
Every tool control system on the market is one of these five mechanisms. The rows are what changes day to day.
| Mechanism | Tool known present by | User known by | Record lives in | Changing a tool later |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-layer foam | You look: red shows through an empty pocket | Not recorded | A clipboard, or nothing | Re-cut the pocket |
| QR label and app | A person scans the drawer and confirms the layout | The person who ran the audit | Cloud register | Update the register; relabel if the layout changes |
| Sensing cabinet | Sensors in the foam layout detect removal and return | Individual RFID fob or keycard | Cabinet screen plus central platform | Re-configure the monitored location and foam |
| Camera cabinet | Cameras image the drawer as it closes and compare it to a trained picture | Badge | Admin PC on the local network | Foam re-cut and drawer re-trained by the vendor |
| RFID crib cabinet | A tag on every tool is read in the drawer | Badge | Crib software | Tag the new tool |
Facts from vendor documentation as of September 2026. No prices are shown because every vendor in the sensing and camera rows quotes to a tool list.
Where it is used
On the floor
Questions
Common questions about tool control
What is a tool control system?
A way of knowing every tool is present and accounted for: foam that shows a missing tool, a digital register that records audits, or a cabinet that detects removal and identifies the user. Teng Tools offers all three as tiers on the same foam kits.
What is the difference between visual, digital and intelligent tool control?
Visual is foam: you see the gap. Digital is KIT: you scan and record. Intelligent is Smart Box: the cabinet detects the tool and records the user automatically.
Do I have to buy a whole new cabinet to move up a tier?
No. KIT adds a label and an app to existing Teng Tools foam kits. Smart Box is a cabinet with sensing built around the same foam layouts.
Can I buy the foam trays on their own?
Yes. The foam tray system is in stock and ships from Fort Worth, Texas.
Which tier do aviation MROs use?
It depends on the FOD and accountability rules of the site. Foam is the baseline everywhere; KIT where audits are scheduled; Smart Box where the site must know who removed what and when.
Does foam alone count as tool control?
Yes. Two-layer foam is the visual control tier and the basis of the other two. Most tool control programmes start here.
What does FOD have to do with tool control?
Foreign object debris: a tool left in an engine or airframe. Tool control exists to make a missing tool obvious before the aircraft moves. Foam makes it visible, KIT records the check, Smart Box detects it.
Can KIT and Smart Box run at the same site?
Yes. Both report into a register. Smart Box cabinets cover the critical kits and KIT covers the rest.
Does Teng Tools cut foam for tools from other brands?
Bespoke foam layouts are built to an approved tool list, and the list can include tools you already own. Tell us what you have on the form.
How is a Smart Box specified?
From your tool list: a tooling review, a drawer layout and foam design, your approval, then manufacture and configuration, an IT review if you need one, installation and training.
What is the first step?
A specification meeting. Bring your tool list and how you audit today.
Is there a price list?
Tool control is configured to a tool list, so pricing follows the specification. Foam trays have prices on the store today.
Specification meeting
Start with your tool list
Tell us what you hold, how you audit today and how many drawers and sites. You leave the meeting with a proposed configuration and the tier it belongs in.
Or call
(817) 767-3392