Eric Sprunk, Nike COO, recently forecast that 3D-printing your Nike shoes at home may not be that far off. Sprunk wanted his audience to know that Nike is prepared for the manufacturing future. He said, “We have a huge initiative in our company called Manufacturing Revolution; it’s really just innovation in manufacturing. Do I envision a future where we might still own the file, from an IP perspective, because we want the Nike product (you can’t just have anybody make a Nike product), and you can manufacture that in your home, or we will do that at our store? Oh yeah, that’s not that far away.”

3D printing will not only change the face of multinational companies, but individual households, because people will no longer be tethered to in-store offerings, but will be able to innovate and manufacture their own shoes.