Warehousing for E-commerce

I was just reading a blog about the 7 digital marketing trends to embrace now (link below). The 7th trend is 3-D printing which is described as:

7. 3D printing

Imagine that you are working on a home improvement project and you are one bolt shy of completing your project. You digitally scan your bolt and within minutes your “printer” produces the precise part you need. This is not science fiction. This is happening now. 3D printing is going to transform logistics, procurement, and eCommerce. It will create entirely new business models. In the near future you won’t have to leave your home to instantly obtain many common items. I think more sophisticated devices will show up at retailers to provide obscure or out-of stock items in moments. Think of the impact on the cost of maintaining and storing parts inventories at a manufacturing plant.

I found this interesting because prior to reading this article, I was just parusing the RE Investor Alert and investors are looking towards industrial expansion for e-commerce vendors that need to store inventory. Interesting. I wonder which trend will play out over the next 1-5 years?

http://www.businessesgrow.com/2013/07/08/7-digital-marketing-trends-to-embrace-now/