Why Drycore Electric Chose PataBid Quantify's Advanced AI Technology to Lead Their Estimating Into the Future

Overview

Drycore Electric runs on a simple motto: early and often. Managing Director Caleb Keindel has built businesses around the belief that technology is a competitive advantage — and that the contractors who adopt early are the ones who stay ahead. When an ownership change brought a fresh look at how estimating was being done, Caleb saw an opportunity. The old way — pen and paper, Excel sheets, legacy software — had run its course. It was time to find something built for where the industry is actually going.

​

Challenge

Estimating at Drycore Electric had followed the same path most electrical contractors know well. Manual methods gave way to spreadsheets, spreadsheets gave way to legacy software — and while that software was digital, it still felt like the old school way of working, just on a screen. The format changed. The workflow didn't.

​

The deeper problem was what that workflow was asking estimators to do. Count. Document. Grind through takeoffs line by line. The best minds on the team were burning their mental energy on the grunt work — and their capacity to take on more was capped by how many hours they could physically put in.

​

Caleb wanted more than a better tool. He wanted a partner who understood that the solution had to be built around the estimator — not around what cool technology exists and how to sell it. That distinction, in his experience, was rare.

​

Solution

In their research, Drycore Electric came across PataBid Quantify. What stood out wasn't just the technology — it was the approach. PataBid had found what Caleb describes as the right compromise: useful and practical right now, while pointing clearly toward where estimating is heading. Not a legacy platform with a new coat of paint. Something genuinely different.

The relationship started with PataBid's CTO Melvin Newman. What Caleb noticed first was that Melvin was willing to listen — willing to understand that the software had to work for the estimator, not the other way around. That was the foundation of the partnership.

​

On the platform itself, the shift was immediate. Quantify changed what Drycore Electric's estimators actually do. Instead of spending their best energy counting and documenting, they became agents — reviewing what the software quantified, confirming it was right, making adjustments where needed. The grunt work moved to Quantify. The judgment stayed with the estimator.

​

The result was bandwidth. Estimators who were previously heads-down on one job could now bounce between two or three projects — getting the takeoffs out, pivoting to review, coming back without losing the thread. They weren't exhausted at the end of the day. They were productive.

​

PataBid's live supplier pricing integration added another layer. Quantify connects directly to Drycore Electric's actual agreements with their suppliers — not generic website pricing, not a call to a rep. Real pricing, in real time, by the click of a button. And when a project moves into production, the work doesn't start over. CCNs, addendums, changes on site — Drycore Electric reworks the estimate directly within Quantify, building off the original takeoff rather than starting from scratch in a silo.

​

Outcome

• Moved away from legacy estimating workflows that digitized the old process without changing it

• Shifted estimators from manual counting and documenting to a review and approval role — redirecting their best thinking toward higher-value work

• Increased team capacity significantly, with estimators now managing multiple projects simultaneously without burning out

• Real-time supplier pricing delivers contract-specific rates instantly — actual agreement pricing, not off-the-shelf rates

• Ongoing project analysis are now handled directly in Quantify — extending the platform's value well beyond the original bid and into production

• Found a software partner that listens to its end users and builds accordingly — something Caleb found wasn't easy to find

​​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

​