We must confess: this title is intentionally provocative, chosen to draw your attention to an uncomfortable truth. The artisan window fitter is becoming an endangered species.
Not because wood is out of fashion or due to a lack of demand, but because professionals who remain attached to exclusively artisan practices risk being swept away by an unstoppable technological revolution. Anyone who doesn’t understand this will soon be a memory of the past.
From artisan to entrepreneur: keep up or close up
We often hear people say: “It’s always been done this way.” Forget it. In 2025, “this way” doesn’t work anymore. The market has changed, customers have changed, and if your business hasn’t changed, you already have one foot in the grave.
Here is the brutal truth:
- while you are proudly showing off your “artisan products”, your competitor is offering unlimited customisation at reduced costs;
- while you are falling behind on deliveries, your competitor is monitoring production in real time.
It’s not about “betraying craftsmanship”, but about surviving in a market that doesn’t makeexceptions, not even for the nostalgic. Craftsmen who insist on remaining the same are destined to become a tiny niche.
That CNC you are afraid of is already your new foreman
Some people look at CNC machines and think, “too complex, too expensive, not for me.” Fatal error. The same machining centre that intimidates you today will be the difference between operators who remain on the market and those who shut up shop tomorrow.
The facts speak clearly and without mercy:
- Consistent quality:each piece is identical to the last, ensuring high and uniform standards. No more small differences or inaccuracies.
- Superior performance: perfect couplings and excellent finishing that can only be achieved by concentrating all processes in a single machining centre without the need for repositioning or subsequent processes.
- Fewer mistakes: the possibility of human error is eliminated.
And let’s not fool ourselves: manual quality, however excellent, cannot compete with the absolute precision and perfect repeatability of a well-programmed machining centre.The imperfection that you call “artisanal touch” is perceived by the customer as a defect when it compromises the functionality or durability of the product.
“Lack of staff” is no longer an excuse
“You just can’t find good carpenters anymore,” is a common complaint. But the real question is: are you really looking for them? Or are you looking for professional figures from 30 years ago in a world that requires something completely different?
Qualified staff exist, but they are no longer what they used to be:
- they are not looking for a carpenter’s bench, but rather a technologically advanced company;
- they don’t want to spend hours hand planing, but prefer programming cutting-edge machines;
- they don’t want to do things “the way it’s always been done“, but seek continuous innovation.
The hard truth is that there is no shortage of carpenters: there is a shortage of companies willing to invest in technology and training.Young talents go where they see a future, and not where theybreathe sawdust and old-fashioned methods.
If your most advanced software is Excel, you’ve already lost
In 2025, running a window and door business without dedicated software is like navigating with a compass when others are using GPS. You’ve lost before you’ve even begun.
Information system integration is no longer a luxury, it’s the bare minimum:
- CAD/CAMfor process design and planning
- ERPfor order, warehouse and production management
- MESto monitor efficiency in real time
- CRMto follow up customers and opportunities
Businesses that still manage quotes on Excel spreadsheets, orders in paper notebooks and job ordersby heart are literally throwing away money and competitiveness every single day. And you don’t need to be a multinational: there are scalable solutions for companies of every size.
Are your margins thinning? It’s your fault, not the market’s
“Customers only look for the best price”, “We don’t earn like we used to”. These complaints hide a deeper truth: businesses that have not optimised their processes are condemned to increasingly narrow margins.
The math is blunt and simple:
- every hour of manual processing that could be automated is an avoidable cost;
- every production error is money wasted;
- everydoor or window not delivered on time is a customer lost.
Companies that have embraced technological transformation are not just surviving: they are thriving, with margins that manual production can only dream of. It’s not magic, it’s efficiency. And in 2025, efficiency speaks the language of machines.
Technology does not eliminate craftsmanship; it only eliminates artisans who refuse to evolve
Careful: we are not saying that craftmanship is dead. We are saying that it is evolving, with or without you. The choice is yours.
The true craftsman of the 21st century:
- uses technology as amultiplier ofhis mastery;
- leaves the repetitive work to the machines to focus on what creates real value;
- understands that tradition is not stasis, but continuous evolution.
Anyone who thinks that “artisanal” necessarily means “handmade from A to Z” has a romantic but economically unsustainable vision.Modern craftsmanship integrates the best of tradition with the best of technology.
Take action: make a move, now or never
There’s no time to hesitate. If you haven’t started your technological transformation yet, here’s what you need to do today:
1. Be realistic
- Do a ruthless audit of your processes
- Calculate how many hours you waste on operations that a machine could do in minutes
- Measure the gap between you and your most advanced competitors
2. Invest or miss out
- A CNC machining centre is not an expense, it’s an investment in your future
- The tax incentives are there, the funding too: enough excuses
- Remember: the highest cost is that of standing still
3. Train or close up shop
- Invest in your skills and those of your collaborators
- Seek partnerships with technology providers
- Pair young technicians with veterans to pass on know-how to the next generation
4. Digitise every aspect
- Eliminate paper, from quote to delivery
- Interconnect machines and software for a continuous data flow
- Leverage KPIs to make decisions based on numbers, not feelings
Conclusion: snap back to reality
The technological revolution in the sector of wooden doors and windowsis not a future scenario: it is happening now. And it leaves only two options: you either evolve or you disappear.
Anyone who keeps telling themselves that “true craftsmanship will never die” without taking any steps to modernise is simply preparing their own entrepreneurial epitaph. Technology won’t wait, and neither will customers.
CNC machines, integrated software and advanced monitoring systems are not enemies of craftsmanship, but the only possible allies that can transport that wealth of knowledge into the future.Machining centres will not replace the artisan: they will only replace those who refuse to change.
The age of the artisan hero in the leather apron is over. The era of the entrepreneur-technologist who dominates machines instead of fearing them has begun. Are you ready to get on board, or would you prefer to stay and watch as others pass you by?
The choice is yours. But time is running out.
