Sustainable Sugar Agro-Industrial Value Chain: An Integrated Lean Framework for Risk Management, Circularity, and Artificial Intelligence

Sustainable management of sugar agro-industrial value chains requires a multidimensional approach that integrates economic, environmental, and social criteria. Current literature addresses risk management, circularity, and artificial intelligence in isolation, without an integrated framework that generates synergistic value. The objective of this research is to validate an integrated framework for the sustainable management of sugar agro-industrial value chains. A mixed-methods, qualitative-quantitative, descriptive-retrospective study was conducted on the Cuban sugar agro-industry during 2023–2025. The procedure was structured into five phases and 10 stages; Petri net simulation was used to validate its logical consistency. Material, economic-financial, and knowledge flows were mapped; 16 stakeholder groups and their influence–dependence relationships were analyzed; 41 risks were identified, of which six were classified as critical. Simulation-based scenario modeling, which integrates risk, circularity, and AI interventions, projects an average potential reduction of 33.4% in total chain lead time, pending empirical validation. Petri nets confirmed the absence of connectivity errors, free-choice violations, and flow noise, formally validating the logical consistency of the procedure. The research supports the hypothesis that an integrated framework combining risk management, circularity, and AI, validated using Petri nets for logical consistency, projects improvements in the efficiency and sustainability of the value chain.