PROJECTSFORCE 360° • CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
Lowe’s Installer of the Year:
How By-Tor Contracting Built Its Operation with ProjectsForce 360°
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From a single-employee startup to ~2,000 jobs a week, how a Lowe’s optimized provider built its operations backbone with ProjectsForce 360°.
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Customer
By-Tor Contracting
Team
55 employees,
62 partner companies
Industry / program
Retail installation services
Recognition
Lowe’s Installer of the Year
Volume
Approximately 2,000 jobs per week
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~2,000
Jobs managed per week
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2 1
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Schedulers per district (staff
redeployed, not laid off)
~1 week
For teams to fully adopt the platform
PROJECTSFORCE 360°
The company
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By-Tor Contracting is a high-volume installation provider in Lowe’s optimized-provider program and a recent recipient of Lowe’s Installer of the Year recognition. The company manages thousands of weekly orders across multiple service categories and a wide network of subcontracted crews, with specialized internal teams for scheduling, permitting, IPM management, and claims each with its own workflow requirements and the need to see only the data relevant to its district and discipline. By-Tor works exclusively with Lowe’s today and is currently building out an independent plumbing division as a new line of business in 2026.
PROJECTSFORCE 360°
The challenge
When By-Tor was onboarded as a Lowe’s optimized provider, the company faced a foundational decision: what platform would manage every job from scheduling through completion as the business scaled?
Before adopting a dedicated solution, By-Tor relied on a direct connection to Lowe’s through IMS: functional, but with no operational layer wrapped around it. As volume grew, three needs became non-negotiable:
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1.
Customization to match how By-Tor actually runs. Every contractor in this industry operates a little differently, and a cookie-cutter system would not
support By-Tor’s multiteam, multi-district structure.
2.
Departmental views that don’t overwhelm the user. Schedulers, permitting staff, and IPM managers all need different data and showing them everything at once
causes lost time and lost progress.
3.
Mission-critical support. When Lowe’s pushes an update through Vendor
Gateway or IMS, or a process issue takes a system down, the response can’t wait until the next business day.
By-Tor evaluated ProjectsForce 360° alongside two alternatives: a direct IMS-only setup, and another industry platform, Celio.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Why ProjectsForce 360°
By-Tor was first introduced to ProjectsForce 360° by Crew Installations, another optimized provider, and beta-tested all three options. ProjectsForce 360° was selected on two factors above all:
Customizability beyond the cookie-cutter.
Compared to other platforms, ProjectsForce 360° offered substantially more flexibility both at the page level and at the workflow level. By-Tor’s scheduling, permitting, and IPM teams could each get views and processes tailored to what their work actually requires, rather than being forced into a single company-wide configuration.
Support that responds when it matters.
Throughout implementation and into daily operations, By-Tor consistently received fast, handson support particularly for time-sensitive issues triggered by Lowe’s-side changes or unexpected outages. That responsiveness has become one of By-Tor’s primary reasons for staying with the platform.
PROJECTSFORCE 360°
Implementation and adoption
The full rollout took roughly three months, phased in sections to match By-Tor’s own readiness rather than any platform constraint. Once teams were on the system, day-to-day adoption was fast: most of By-Tor’s users were working fluidly inside ProjectsForce 360° within about a week. The early customization work getting job pages tuned to give field pros exactly the right level of detail took some learning, but the ProjectsForce 360° team transferred that capability to By-Tor directly. By-Tor can now make those page-level changes themselves; an option they note isn’t available with every provider in the space.
Before vs. after
Because By-Tor adopted ProjectsForce 360° on day one of joining Lowe’s optimized-provider program, there is no formal “pre-platform” baseline. The before-and-after view below compares By-Tor’s early operating model (direct IMS connection, manual coordination, minimal automation) with how the business runs today on ProjectsForce 360°.
Operational area
Before
With ProjectsForce 360°
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Lowe’s order
intake
Direct IMS connection only no operational layer wrapping the program data
All Lowe’s orders flow into a single system aligned to By-Tor’s internal workflow
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Scheduling
staffing
Two schedulers per district required to keep up with volume
One scheduler per district; surplus capacity redeployed into other support roles (no layoffs)
Pro availability
Tracked informally; backup schedulers had no visibility into other reps’ pro schedules
Days, half-days, and full-day blocks recorded centrally any scheduler can pick up the work cleanly
Customer communication
External channels with no notifications; reps had to circle back the next day for replies
Two-way texting native to the platform with reply notifications; conversations close in real time
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Departmental
views
Single, company-wide view risked over whelming individual teams
Each team (scheduling, permitting, IPM, claims) sees only the data relevant to its district and role
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Reporting
Limited; ad-hoc data requests slowed decisions
Self-built custom reports on demand - data ready in time for the meeting it’s for
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Configuration
changes
Vendor-dependent for any layout or workflow tweak
By-Tor’s admins make page and workflow changes directly
Note on metrics: Specific percentage improvements aren’t included here because By-Tor adopted the platform from day one the qualitative comparisons above are drawn directly from the operational changes the team described. Hard before/after percentages would require a baseline that doesn’t exist for this customer.
PROJECTSFORCE 360°
How By-Tor uses ProjectsForce 360° today
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ProjectsForce 360° runs end-to-end across By-Tor’s operation. With around 2,000 jobs flowing through the platform every week, essentially every operational function lives inside it:
1.
Scheduling and rescheduling across districts, with availability blocking for every contractor in the field
2.
Custom reporting that By-Tor builds in-house when a meeting calls for fresh data on the fly
3.
Job review, permitting, and ongoing job management
4.
Quoting and selling
5.
Vendor debits and claims management
6.
Two-way customer texting directly inside the platform
Features By-Tor relies on most
Feature VS Why it matters at By-Tor
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Scoped scheduling views
The calendar lets each scheduler see only the pros and jobs assigned to them narrowed views give the team a sense of completion as their numbers come down, instead of staring at an overwhelming company-wide queue.
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In-platform customer texting
Two-way texting happens directly inside ProjectsForce 360°, with reply notifications. Schedulers no longer wait days to circle back, and customer conversations close in real time.
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Pro availability blocking
Several hundred pros’ availability is recorded centrally days off, half-days, full days. Any scheduler can pick up the work without accidentally booking a contractor on a day they can’t work.
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Self-serve customization
By-Tor’s admins adapt pages and configurations themselves no ticket, no waiting on the vendor for routine changes.
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Custom reporting
Reports get built and adjusted on the fly, so when a meeting calls for a specific cut of data, the team can produce it immediately.
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Responsive support
Fast support response on Lowe’s-side updates and process issues turns potential outages into brief blips.
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PROJECTSFORCE 360°
Results: operational and business value
By-Tor’s outcomes on ProjectsForce 360° fall into three categories that map directly to how
installation businesses make and protect money: scaling without proportional cost, faster
customer cycles, and operational quality at volume.
1.
Scaling without proportional headcount
Reduced from two schedulers per district to one without layoffs. The freed capacity was redeployed into other support roles, letting the company grow without growing scheduling overhead at the same rate.
55 employees coordinate roughly 2,000 weekly jobs across 62 partner companies and 250-300 field contractors. The ratio of jobs to office staff is the clearest signal of how much load the platform absorbs.
Self-serve admin work (page customization, custom reports) removes vendordependency from routine changes a hidden but recurring cost in most contractor software.
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2.
Faster lead-to-completion cycles
Native two-way texting with reply notifications keeps customer conversations moving in real time, instead of getting parked overnight while a scheduler waits for the next sitdown.
Reduced cycle time means jobs reach completion and revenue gets recognized sooner. For installation businesses paid on completion, faster cycles directly affect cash flow.
Tighter communication also reduces the cancellation and reschedule rate that comes from missed customer touchpoints.
3.
Operational quality at volume
Missed scheduling and rescheduling dropped substantially after centralizing pro availability fewer wasted truck rolls, fewer apology calls, and a smoother experience for the homeowner and the retail partner.
Backup schedulers can step in cold and still operate cleanly, because every pro’s availability is in one place rather than in someone’s head.
The cumulative effect clean scheduling, responsive customer comms, fast issue resolution is the kind of consistent execution that contributed to By-Tor being recognized as Lowe’s Installer of the Year.
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“I would describe ProjectsForce 360° as an all-in-one tool that makes things simple and keeps the jobs moving. In the industry we’re in how much jobs move from point to point, team to team, department to department being able to track those jobs efficiently and keep it moving and not lose track of it, ProjectsForce360° is an all-in-one solution.”
“One of the number one reasons I would recommend ProjectsForce 360° is the support team. When we have emergencies, when we need something changed, when we need to update our process to keep up with our customer base, being able to reach out to the support team and get that help we need and get quick answers and quick solutions that has been so valuable to us to keep the company moving forward.”
- Alden Parker, By-Tor Contracting
Looking ahead: AI and the next layer of efficiency
By-Tor is preparing to layer ProjectsForce 360°’s AI calling capabilities on top of an already lean operation. The platform already supports AI-powered text and chat customer outreach. With outbound AI calling and inbound AI handling now in release, By-Tor sees three concrete ways the technology will extend the value they’re already getting:
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Faster lead-to-appointment
conversion
Today, even with native customer texting, a job still has to wait until a scheduler picks up the conversation. With outbound AI calling, the moment a job is ready to schedule, the platform calls the customer to book the appointment compressing the gap between job creation and a confirmed appointment from hours (or overnight) to minutes.
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Lower scheduler
workload
By-Tor’s schedulers spend a non-trivial share of their time on repetitive outbound and inbound calls confirming windows, fielding update requests from Lowe’s stores, leaving voicemails. Routing those interactions through AI voice frees the team to focus on exception handling, the work that actually requires judgment. Combined with the existing 2-to-1 scheduler reduction, this is the next lever for keeping headcount flat while volume continues to grow.
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Inbound store call
coverage
Lowe’s stores call frequently for status updates on jobs in flight. With ProjectsForce 360°’s AI inbound capability, those calls can be handled automatically pulling job status from the same data the schedulers see, with a voice realistic enough that callers don’t realize they’re talking to AI. The result is full call coverage without dedicating a person to it. By-Tor plans to beta-test these capabilities, joining ProjectsForce 360° in the iteration loop the way they have on previous releases.
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What this means for you
By-Tor’s story is specific, but the operating challenges behind it aren’t they show up in almost every retail-program installation business. If any of the following sound familiar, the same playbook applies:
If you recognize this in your operation
Here’s what ProjectsForce 360° changes
Scheduling overhead grows linearly with volume every new district means another scheduler
Scoped views, central pro availability, and self-serve customization let one scheduler do the work two were doing and redeploy capacity instead of cutting it.
Customer cycle times stretch because conversations live in email, voicemail, or external SMS apps with no reply visibility.
Native two-way texting with reply notifications closes the loop in real time, accelerating lead-to-completion and freeing up cash flow on completion-paid programs.
Missed and rescheduled jobs pile up because pro availability lives in someone’s head.
Centralized availability blocks (days, halfdays, full days) make every scheduler including backups equally effective.
Every layout, workflow, or report change requires a vendor ticket and a wait.
By-Tor’s admins make those changes themselves. The platform is designed to be configured by the people who use it.
A retail-side update or outage takes the operation down for a day.
Hands-on, fast support response is the consistent reason customers stay confirmed by By-Tor across years on the platform.
Schedulers are buried in repetitive outbound and inbound calls.
AI voice (outbound + inbound) is in release now and ready to absorb the routine call volume the next lever for scaling without adding headcount.
By-Tor moved from one employee to ~2,000 jobs a week and Lowe’s Installer of the Year on a single, configurable platform with a support team that responds when it matters. If your operation is wrestling with the same patterns, the conversation is worth having.
About
ProjectsForce 360°
ProjectsForce 360° is a purpose-built field service management platform for contractors and
service businesses, with deep integrations into major retail installation programs including
Lowe’s, Home Depot, and others. From lead capture through final payment, the platform unifies scheduling, permitting, job management, customer communication, vendor and contractor coordination, and reporting on a single connected system.
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