First off, here's an excellent article on design and craftsmanship (http://www.abitare.it/highlights/how-do-you-link-traditional-crafts-to-contemporary-design/). It addresses handicrafts, model-making, and using CAD for design. These designers discuss where is the "happy-medium" where we can design with the handicrafts in mind while still using machinery to get our designs produced.
Aside from that, worldwide there is a loss of traditions, values, and skill sets. Ranging from East Asian Lacquerware to Indian Costume Making, there has been a mass-disintegration of meaningful techniques and age-old systems. We currently live in a world where the products we consume are made thousands of miles away and traditional know-how is no longer valued.
One company that is dealing with the loss of craftsmanship is UNESCO. (http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=2081) One of the safe-guarding techniques they are using strengthens local markets and also targets new markets, by selling the products on the Internet.
Here's a video on the last Swill Basket Maker from 2006: (unforunately the video doesn't show up when embedding) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnFockM5ok I found the product he created to be fascinating.
In France, a system known as "Maitre d'Art" was established. It honors noble craftsmen of France from jewelry makers to haute couture tailors. The idea of this acknowledgment was to bring appreciation and awareness to fine crafts. A program was also set up by the Comite Colbert (started by Jean-Jacques Guerlain in 1954) where high standards of learning are set for young students or apprentices in order to preserve the traditions of craftsmen. Below are just several images of the craftsmen and techniques they use.
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