Case Study: From Basement to $65M – How Crume Installations Scaled with ProjectsForce 360
Crume Installations: From Basement Startup to $65M Powerhouse
When Crume Installations first partnered with ProjectsForce 360, they were a small shop in Louisville running out of a basement with paper files and Excel sheets. Data entry was draining time, growth felt impossible, and late nights were the norm.
By adopting ProjectsForce 360, Crume automated job intake, scheduling, and customer communication. What started as simple PDF parsing quickly evolved into a fully customized system built around their “installer brain” mindset, making technology feel less like tech, and more like time saved.
The results speak for themselves: Crume grew from $500K in annual revenue to more than $60M, expanded from 10 Lowe’s stores to 450+ nationwide, and now completes 10,000+ jobs per week.
The real difference wasn’t just software. It was partnership. Crume and ProjectsForce 360 pushed each other to innovate, building tools that made installers’ lives easier and businesses stronger.
As Tim Crume puts it: “Automation isn’t about tech. It’s about getting home to your family on time.”
The Challenge
In 2012, Crume Installations was a small operation in Louisville, KY.
Tim Crume ran jobs from his basement with two staff, piles of Excel sheets, and manual scheduling.
Data entry was a nightmare. Coordinators worked nights to keep up with Lowe’s faxed job orders. Growth felt impossible without burning people out.
As Tim put it:
“Data entry was our Achilles heel. We were losing our minds.”
The Turning Point
Enter ProjectsForce.
What started as a simple tool to automate Lowe’s job PDFs quickly grew into the system that would transform Crume’s business. Founder Chad Thomas visited Tim’s basement and showed him how
ProjectsForce could scrape faxes, automate data entry, and streamline scheduling.
Tim’s reaction was instant:
“I didn’t care about anything else. That one feature alone saved us. I was in.”
The Partnership
What followed wasn’t a vendor-customer relationship. It was a partnership.
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Boots on the ground feedback: Tim constantly pushed for more, from digital signatures to auto-calling customers.
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Rapid innovation: Chad and his team answered with fast builds, sometimes overnight.
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Shared growth: Both companies scaled in lockstep, each pushing the other to evolve faster.
As Tim says:
“We were always five years ahead because we refused to settle for average. ProjectsForce gave us that edge.”
The Results
The numbers speak for themselves:
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Annual Revenue: From $500K when Crume joined ProjectsForce to a projected $60–65M today.
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Scale: From 10 stores to 450+ Lowe’s stores nationwide.
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Volume: From a handful of jobs per week to 10,000 installs weekly.
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Efficiency: Automated calls, texts, and scheduling cut admin time dramatically, letting Crume focus on growth.
Tim calls it the difference-maker:
“Without technology, our margins would have been eaten alive. ProjectsForce bought back our time, and time is everything.”