09-28-2013: Tesco predicted that "over the next few years you will see 3D printing in shops."

Here is a unique time capsule...

On September 28, 2013, Mike McNamara, the then IT chief of supermarket giant Tesco, said that 3D printing could soon come to supermarkets, allowing shoppers to order certain basic items and have them printed on-demand. This announcement resonated widely, both in industry media and mainstream outlets. Today, we know that nothing like this happened.

However, this story shows how additive manufacturing was perceived a decade ago, the high expectations tied to it, and the reasons behind them—first, the big boom of consumer 3D printers, followed by a great disappointment when they didn’t meet expectations.

Mike McNamara was Chief Information Officer, responsible for all technology across the Tesco Group, providing strategic direction and managing the technology in stores as well as behind-the-scenes operations, customer websites, and mobile platforms. He had been with Tesco since 2007 and served as CIO until mid-May 2015, when he left the company.

At the time, Tesco’s HQ technology teams were testing 3D printers to explore how they might change store operations. In September 2013, during the Oracle OpenWorld show, McNamara said in an interview:

"I think over the next few years you will see 3D printing in shops, because for the missing hose from the vacuum cleaner, you can print them in the time it takes someone to enter the store, do a bit of shopping, and leave. So I can definitely see that being part of the retail offering in the not too distant future."

"I think it will help Tesco as a company, I don’t think it will be a bad thing," he said. "It'll be a great thing for customers, we'll have 3D printing in our stores. As retailers, you'll always adapt. ... We'll adapt to 3D printing, we'll adapt to RFID. You live, you change."

McNamara also said it might take a while for 3D printers to be widely adopted in the home, but 3D printing could actually help retailers increase footfall in stores because it would "give shoppers a new reason to visit shops for quick access to niche items." Tesco was exploring ways to add 3D printing as an in-store service.

"Physical stores won’t disappear," McNamara said. "But retailers do need to focus more on new strategies and what products and services local stores can provide to meet particular customers' needs in an age of customization."

IMPORTANT: This post is not intended to criticize or mock Mr. McNamara. At the time, many people in high-ranking positions made predictions about AM that didn’t come true. Companies like Autodesk, Canon, or HP invested enormous resources in projects that ultimately failed. Moreover, many CEOs of the world's largest AM companies made decisions that, in hindsight, seem rather embarrassing or even suicidal in terms of business (you know their names…).

Source: www.v3.co.uk