How Wren Kitchens Transformed SOP Training and Competency Management With This SOP Content Builder System
Wren Kitchens is one of the UK’s largest kitchen manufacturers, with extensive manufacturing operations across multiple departments and sites. Like many large manufacturers, Wren relied on paper-based Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Safe Working Procedures (SWPs) to train employees and record completion.
However, managing paper records across a large workforce created significant administrative challenges and made it harder to ensure that employees were always trained against the latest approved procedures. By moving its SOPs into the Human Focus Content Builder, Wren Kitchens has created a more consistent, accessible and auditable approach to training and competency management.
The Challenge
Prior to engaging with Human Focus, what challenges did you face when using your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to train staff and demonstrate competence?
Before using Human Focus, our training process relied entirely on paper-based SOP’s and SWP’s. This made it difficult to manage and maintain training records, particularly across multiple manufacturing departments and sites. Updating procedures meant reprinting and redistributing documents and it was challenging to ensure employees were always working from the latest version.
Demonstrating competence was also more difficult. While employees signed paper copies to confirm they had completed their training, there was limited visibility of when the training had taken place. How much time had been spent reviewing the procedures or whether the most current version had been used. Retrieving records for audits or investigations was a manual and time-consuming process. Tracking training completion across the workforce required significant administrative effort.
The paper-based system made it difficult to maintain consistent records, control procedure versions and quickly retrieve evidence of training. It also provided limited assurance that employees had reviewed the correct procedure or spent sufficient time completing their training.
The Solution and Benefits
What benefits have you seen from moving your SOPs into Human Focus?
Moving our SOPs into Human Focus has transformed the way we manage training and competency across our manufacturing operations. The platform has given us a centralised, digital system where procedures can be easily uploaded, updated and distributed. Ensuring employees always have access to the latest approved versions and easy to access any training records that has been completed.
The flexibility of the platform has also improved training completion, as employees can complete their training around operational demands without disrupting production. Overall, Human Focus has reduced the administrative burden of managing paper records, improved consistency in training delivery, strengthened our ability to demonstrate competence, and given us much greater confidence in our compliance processes.
"Moving to Human Focus has given Wren Kitchens a centralised system for managing, updating and distributing its procedures. Employees can access the latest approved versions, while managers have clearer visibility of training completion and competency records across the organisation."
"The result is reduced administration, more consistent training delivery and stronger evidence for audits, investigations and compliance assurance."
About Your Organisation
Setting the scene: who Wren Kitchens are, and how training was managed before Human Focus.
I work for Wren Kitchens, one of the UK's leading kitchen manufacturers and retailers. The company designs, manufactures, and installs made-to-order kitchens, offering customers a complete service from design through to installation. I work as a Manufacturing Training Coordinator, where I coordinate and support training for manufacturing employees, helping to onboard new starters, upskilling staff, maintain training records and ensure colleagues are competent and confident in their roles while meeting quality and safety standards.
Prior to Human Focus our Health & Safety team managed new starter inductions using printed Safe Working Procedures (SWPs) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). During induction, new employees would read through these documents as part of their onboarding process. Department-specific training was also delivered using printed SWPs and SOPs, with employees signing paper copies to confirm they had completed the training and understood the procedures. The signed documents were stored in staff folders on their H&S drive.
The biggest challenges with our previous approach were that it was entirely paper based, making it time consuming to manage, update and store training records. It was difficult to ensure everyone was working from the most up-to-date version of an SWP or SOP, and tracking who had completed or acknowledged training required significant manual administration. Retrieving records for audits or compliance checks could also be time-consuming and there was limited visibility of individual training progress or outstanding requirements across the manufacturing departments.
Off-the-Shelf Training
Why Wren Kitchens chose Human Focus, and the impact of combining awareness training with advanced accredited courses.
We chose Human Focus because it provided a flexible solution that met the needs of our manufacturing workforce. The platform allows each employee to have their own login without requiring a work email address, making it easy for everyone to access their training. Uploading and updating training procedures is straightforward and our management team can quickly assign, deliver, and refresh training whenever needed.
As Wren Kitchens has a multilingual workforce, Human Focus also enables us to upload multiple language versions of the same procedure. This allows employees from different countries to complete their training in their preferred language, improving understanding, engagement, and compliance.
Another key benefit is the sign-off function on each procedure. It provides a clear audit trail, allowing us to demonstrate that employees have not only completed the training but have also read and acknowledged the procedures they have been trained on. This has given us much greater confidence in our compliance processes and makes it far easier to evidence training completion during audits or internal reviews.
Having access to both awareness training and advanced courses, such as IOSH Managing Safely and PUWER Duty Holder, has provided significant benefits for our organisation. It has reduced the costs associated with external training providers while giving our employees much greater flexibility in how and when they complete their training.
Rather than scheduling fixed training days or arranging for external trainers to visit our site, employees can complete their courses at a pace that fits around their operational responsibilities. They can pause and resume their training as needed, making it much easier to balance learning with the demands of their role.
This has been particularly valuable for our maintenance department. As engineers are responsible for responding to machinery breakdowns, attending a consecutive three-day classroom course can be challenging and disruptive to production. With the online training, they can step away to deal with urgent breakdowns and then continue their course afterwards, ensuring they receive the required training without compromising operational efficiency or adding unnecessary pressure.
Yes, we have seen significant improvements in compliance, consistency and training completion since implementing Human Focus. The platform has standardised how training is delivered across our manufacturing departments, ensuring all employees receive the same up-to-date procedures and information.
The multilingual capability has also improved understanding by allowing employees to complete training in their preferred language, helping to ensure key safety procedures are fully understood. The electronic sign-off function provides a clear audit trail, giving us confidence that employees have read and acknowledged the procedures they have been trained on.
As the system is fully electronic, we can also see how much time an individual has spent reviewing each procedure through timestamped records. This provides valuable evidence that can be reviewed during investigations, helping us demonstrate that employees had sufficient opportunity to read and understand the training materials.
Training completion has also improved because employees can complete courses at times that suit their workload. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for operational teams, such as our maintenance engineers, who need to respond to production demands but can pause and resume their training as required. Overall, the platform has made training more accessible, easier to manage, and far more efficient than our previous paper-based process.
"As engineers are responsible for responding to machinery breakdowns, attending a consecutive three-day classroom course can be challenging and disruptive to production. With the online training, they can step away to deal with urgent breakdowns and then continue their course afterwards."
SOPs (Content Builder)
Moving Standard Operating Procedures from paper into a digital, centralised content builder.
Before using Human Focus, our training process relied entirely on paper-based SOP's and SWP's.
This made it difficult to manage and maintain training records, particularly across multiple manufacturing departments and sites. Updating procedures meant reprinting and redistributing documents and it was challenging to ensure employees were always working from the latest version.
Demonstrating competence was also more difficult. While employees signed paper copies to confirm they had completed their training, there was limited visibility of when the training had taken place. How much time had been spent reviewing the procedures or whether the most current version had been used. Retrieving records for audits or investigations was a manual and time-consuming process. Tracking training completion across the workforce required significant administrative effort.
Moving our SOPs into Human Focus has transformed the way we manage training and competency across our manufacturing operations. The platform has given us a centralised, digital system where procedures can be easily uploaded, updated and distributed. Ensuring employees always have access to the latest approved versions and easy to access any training records that has been completed.
The flexibility of the platform has also improved training completion, as employees can complete their training around operational demands without disrupting production. Overall, Human Focus has reduced the administrative burden of managing paper records, improved consistency in training delivery, strengthened our ability to demonstrate competence, and given us much greater confidence in our compliance processes.
Company Inductions
The impact of taking induction programmes for new employees and contractors fully online.
Moving our company induction programmes online has made the onboarding process much more consistent, efficient and engaging for both new employees and contractors. Instead of relying on paper documents, everyone now completes the same structured induction through Human Focus, ensuring they receive the latest health and safety information, company policies and procedures from day one.
From an administrative perspective, the online system provides a clear record of completed inductions and electronic acknowledgements, making it easy to confirm that all mandatory training has been completed before employees begin work. It has significantly reduced paperwork, improved compliance, and given us much better visibility of everyone's onboarding progress, resulting in a smoother and more effective induction process overall.
Yes, we have experienced significant time savings and operational improvements since moving to Human Focus. Assigning training, monitoring completion and retrieving records can now all be done quickly through the platform, which has made audits and compliance checks far more efficient. We no longer need to search through paper files or manually verify whether employees have completed the latest version of a procedure. Overall, the platform has streamlined our training processes, improved record accuracy, strengthened compliance and made the management of employee training far more efficient across our manufacturing operations.
Mobile Training Card
Linking every employee's physical ID badge to their live training and competency profile.
The Mobile Training Card (QR Code) has significantly improved the way our Organisation manages, verifies, and demonstrates employee competence. We incorporate the QR code onto our own branded employee ID cards, which are issued to all members of staff. This provides a simple way of linking each employee directly to their live training records. By scanning the QR code, managers, supervisors, and our Health & Safety team can instantly access an employee's complete training profile, including uploaded certificates, qualifications, and competency records. This removes the need to search through the system manually, ensuring that accurate, up-to-date information is always readily available. The system has proven particularly valuable during internal audits, as it enables us to demonstrate employee competence immediately. It also supports compliance by allowing management to quickly verify that personnel hold the appropriate training and certifications before undertaking specific tasks.
"By scanning the QR code, managers, supervisors, and our Health & Safety team can instantly access an employee's complete training profile, including uploaded certificates, qualifications, and competency records."
Overall Experience
Reflecting on the platform, the partnership, and whether Wren Kitchens would recommend Human Focus.
To have a platform that reach all the departments and managers.
Yes, having everything together in one platform has made a significant difference. It has created a single source of truth for all our training and competency records, making it much easier to manage employee learning throughout their journey with the business.
Yes, I would recommend Human Focus. Particularly to organisations with large operational or manufacturing workforces. The platform is straightforward to use, flexible and provides an effective way of managing training.
Our experience with the Human Focus team has been very positive. Our Key account manager have been responsive, knowledgeable and supportive whenever we have needed assistance.
Yes, without hesitation. Human Focus has helped us modernise and simplify the way we manage training and competency.
No, I think I have covered the key improvements Human Focus has brought to our business.
