The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is turning to artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, and advanced materials science to transform an industry that has changed little in decades.
A newly launched national initiative, the Center for Research and Advancement of Forest Product Technologies (CRAFT), will develop next-generation technologies to modernize the country’s pulp, paper, and packaging sector, an industry that supports thousands of manufacturing jobs but still relies on aging mill infrastructure.
The initiative is led by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The program will bring together multiple national laboratories, universities, and industry partners to improve manufacturing efficiency and help domestic producers remain globally competitive.
AI to trace bottlenecks
Rather than focusing on building new mills, CRAFT aims to extract more value from existing facilities through digital transformation. Researchers will use AI-driven process improvement, complex modeling, automation, and data analysis to identify operational bottlenecks, reduce downtime, improve yields, and cut production costs.
“The U.S. pulp and paper industry is critical to thousands of rural communities, like the one where I grew up in Maine, but much of the existing infrastructure is decades old,” said Daniel Coughlin, executive director of CRAFT and a senior research and development staff member at ORNL.
The center is funded by the Industrial Technologies Office within DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. It is supported by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and the newly established National Laboratory of the Rockies, alongside a network of industrial partners.
Next-gen pulping
Beyond digital tools, the research program will tackle some of the industry’s most energy-intensive manufacturing stages, including next-generation pulping, chemical recovery, dewatering, and drying. These processes account for a significant share of production costs and offer opportunities for efficiency gains.
Gregg Beckham, senior research fellow and National Laboratory of the Rockies lead for CRAFT, said the initiative will combine molecular-scale modeling with AI-enabled discovery and experimental testing to accelerate the commercialization of new manufacturing technologies.
The effort is designed to bridge a long-standing gap amid laboratory research and factory deployment.
During its first phase, CRAFT will work directly with manufacturers to identify operational issues and determine which pilot-scale technologies should be tested before commercial rollout. The center also plans to provide companies with access to advanced automation, simulation, and data-analysis capabilities that many traditional mills currently lack.
Art Ragauskas, chief technology officer for CRAFT and the University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Biorefining, said the center will help reduce the technical and financial risks of adopting new technologies, helping promising innovations move faster from research labs to commercial production.
Beyond research, CRAFT will serve as a national collaboration hub. It will bring together paper manufacturers, equipment suppliers, downstream customers, and researchers to align technology development in line with industry needs and support workforce development.
DOE officials said the initiative is intended to strengthen domestic manufacturing, improve the competitiveness of U.S. forest products, and help sustain high-value industrial jobs in rural communities that have long depended on the pulp and paper sector.