The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is relying on 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 factory 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 production efficiency and help domestic producers remain globally competitive.
AI to detect bottlenecks
Instead of focusing on building new factories, CRAFT aims to extract more value from existing assets 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 reduce production costs.
“The U.S. pulp and paper industry is critical to thousands of rural communities like the one I grew up in in Maine, but much of the existing infrastructure is decades old,” said Daniel Coughlin, executive director of CRAFT and senior research and development officer at ORNL.
The center is funded by the Industrial Technologies Office within the DOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. It is supported by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Idaho National Laboratory and the newly formed National Laboratory of the Rockies, as well as a network of industry partners.
Next generation pulp
Beyond digital tools, the research program will address some of the industry’s most energy-intensive production stages, including next-generation pulp, chemical recovery, dewatering and drying. These processes make up a significant portion of production costs and offer opportunities for increasing efficiency.
Gregg Beckham, senior research fellow and head of the National Laboratory of the Rockies for CRAFT, said the initiative will combine molecular modeling with AI-powered discovery and experimental testing to accelerate the commercialization of new manufacturing technologies.
The effort is intended to close a long-standing gap between laboratory research and factory use.
In the first phase, CRAFT will work directly with manufacturers to identify operational issues and determine which technologies should be tested at pilot scale before commercial deployment. The center also plans to give companies access to advanced automation, simulation and data analysis capabilities that many traditional factories currently lack.
Art Ragauskas, CRAFT’s chief technology officer and University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Biorefinery, said the center will help reduce the technical and financial risks of introducing new technologies and move promising innovations more quickly from research labs to commercial production.
Beyond research, CRAFT will serve as a national center for collaboration. It will bring together paper manufacturers, equipment suppliers, downstream customers and researchers to align technology development with industry needs and support workforce development.
Energy Department officials said the initiative aims to strengthen domestic manufacturing, improve the competitiveness of American forest products and help maintain high-quality industrial jobs in rural communities that have long depended on the pulp and paper sector.
