Citation: Bouchard, S.; Abdulnour, G.; Gamache, S. Agility and Industry 4.0 Implementation Strategy in a Quebec Manufacturing SME. Sustainability 2022, 14, 7884. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137884 Academic Editor: Antonella Petrillo Received: 5 April 2022 Accepted: 20 June 2022 Published: 28 June 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Agility and Industry 4.0 Implementation Strategy in a Quebec Manufacturing SME Stéphanie Bouchard *, Georges Abdulnour * and Sébastien Gamache Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada; sebastien.gamache@uqtr.ca * Correspondence: stephanie.bouchard2@uqtr.ca (S.B.); georges.abdulnour@uqtr.ca (G.A.) Abstract: The emergence of new information technologies, market globalization, climate change, labor shortages, and changing consumer habits have led to dynamic demand and the need for customized mass production systems. This has forced companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), to rethink their product design, production, and marketing models to remain competitive by increasing their agility in the face of growing and changing demand. It becomes relevant to investigate how to move efficiently towards customized mass production in an Industry 4.0 (I4.0) environment. The objective of this research is to develop a strategy for implementing I4.0 in manufacturing SME, based on lean, agility, and intelligent modular product design. A literature review made it possible to target the following performance measures: reducing inventory, minimizing makespan, and reducing time to consumer (reaction time). A case study was conducted in an SME in the agri-food sector to validate the proposed strategy. Inventory levels were reduced by more than 70% and time was cut by almost 65%. Keywords: modular structure; dynamic demand; standardization; dynamic cells; Quebec manufac- turing SME; customized mass production; agility; connectivity; industry 4.0 1. Introduction With the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution and new technologies such as the In- ternet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), the cloud, and cyber-physical systems, [1] a change in consumption habits has been observed. This new reality is pushing companies to become more agile and connected to stay competitive and meet consumer demand. To achieve this, product design, manufacturing, and marketing methods must be reviewed. Industry 4.0, primarily based on interconnectivity and implemented through digital trans- formation, is forcing companies to rethink the way they do business to meet this new dynamic demand associated with customized mass production [2]. Among the many markets affected by these transformations is the agro-food sector, which is grappling with dynamic demand, growing competition, and the emergence of customized mass production. In fact, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of small farms in Quebec in recent years, and the remaining farms are getting larger [3]. Companies that previously dealt with small farms are being forced to expand their market to seek new customers in European and Asian countries. However, this new market is largely focused on Industry 4.0 [4]. With the current labor shortage, the globalization of markets, increasingly specific needs, and the emergence of a need for mass customization, Quebec manufacturing SME that want to compete in this new era of the fourth industrial revolution must be more agile and connected. A systematic literature review has made it possible to highlight that no approach has been developed to implement agility in Quebec manufacturing SME. A study was conducted to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Quebec SME in a I4.0 context. This study highlighted lack of resources and technological knowledge of SME. Among Sustainability 2022, 14, 7884. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137884 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability