Try Craftsman tools. Lifetime guaranteed..uncondiationally. If you ever snap a tool you can just hand it in to any SEARS store in the states and they replace it there and then. The tools are excellent quality...not far off from Snap On in my opinion. Go to Sears.com and flick thru the tooling part for a look at all they have. Also with the Euro vs Dollar at the moment it is very good value!
Off the top of my head i read somehwere that K-Mart are now one of the main suppliers of craftsman tools also.
In relation to your question on how the tooling is controlled, my last workplace had, where possible, a bar code on the tool. When you go to the tool store this tool would be then put out against your name on the aircraft you are working on. This had 2 advantages...You can see who has what tool and also at the end of the check you can see what tools are remaining against an aircraft. For the likes of hand tools where a bar code is not practical to stick onto it, the tools were etched with a number, and it was this number that was used to book the tool out. When it was entered intot he computer system in stores it would come up with the correctpart etc..e.g. 29876 when entered comes up as 2" multi hex socket...