The idea of machines making machines is a recurring theme in both science fiction stories and serious academic studies. There are probably two reasons for this fascination: One is a practical view of scalability. Creating a machine that can create more machines leverages technology to it's maximum capacity:With no humans in the loop, production is limited only by availability of material, power, and time. The second reason for fascination with this topic may be rooted in a deeper psychological need - one that some might call hubris - our need to create. The natural distinguishes itself from the artificial in that natural creatures can make more creatures but machines cannot. At its core, self-reproduction is the ultimate hallmark of biology. If you can create a machine that can make other machines, you will have attained a new level of creation.

What will happen in the future, when intelligent computers learn to bridge the gap between what humans need and what multi-material printers can make? The result will be next-generation design software, or what I like to call a "matter compiler."

It's in the nature of patents that they give a monopoly to whoever holds them for 20 years. James Watt patented various vital aspects of the steam engine. Yet, you look at steam engine development and nothing happened for 20 years during the life of the Watt's patent. When that patent lapsed, there was a great flaring of steam engine innovation and then the industrial evolution. ~ Adrian Bowyer (RapRap)

3d printing is the catalyst that cloud manufacturing has been waiting for. Cloud manufacturing will be a decentralized system, built on the foundation of ultra-large networks of small manufacturing companies. Wikipedia defines cloud manufacturing as systems "where various manufacturing resources and abilities can be intelligently sensed and connected into wider internet, and automatically managed and controlled."