The invention and manufacturing industries see a lot of change, but a lot of it remains stationary as well. Take for instance, the supply chain. This is one of the biggest issues related to manufacturing; that businesses which produce stuff then need to go through the exorbitant effort of shipping their products overseas, making the effort very costly, and inflating the costs of their products. 3D printing may offer a solution to this, which could see products becoming more cheaply and widely available.
Products which previously needed a massive specialised manufacturing infrastructure to be produced, can now be done through 3d printing, which is mobile, widely available, and quite easy to do. This means that we may see 3d printing causing ripples around the world as they set up shop close to some of the major retail markets around the world; eliminating the need for large transportation costs, saving the consumer money, the producer money, and helping to save the environment as well through a smaller carbon footprint.