On October 22, 2026, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced CRAFT, a research center that will use AI and advanced manufacturing technologies to help modernize the US paper and forest-products industry. Multiple national laboratories will work together, applying AI-driven exploration of materials and processes and analysis of operational data to improve manufacturing steps such as pulping, dewatering, and drying. The plan is to give companies access to research facilities and testing opportunities so they can verify the performance and economics of new technologies before introducing them in actual mills.
As long-term goals, CRAFT aims to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes by 10–25% and cut production costs by up to 17%. However, these figures are targets to be pursued through future research and development, not results demonstrated in this announcement. What matters is that the center is not only developing AI-based technologies but also building a framework for judging whether research results can be used on the factory floor.
Four national laboratories and $20 million to support modernization of the paper industry
CRAFT is a joint research center led by ORNL and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) also participating. Funding comes from the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Industrial Technologies Office, with federal support put at $20 million. The center brings together the research facilities and expertise of several national laboratories to address the technical challenges faced by paper and forest-products manufacturers.
According to CRAFT's official description, the center's purpose is to provide the research and development resources and testing opportunities that each company needs, depending on its technical and business challenges. Participation extends beyond paper and forest-products manufacturers to equipment suppliers and downstream customers, such as users of paper products. Rather than simply handing laboratory-developed technologies to companies, the approach sets research topics starting from the needs of manufacturing sites and customers.
DOE's selection document lists both retrofits of existing mills and technology development for new mills as targets for CRAFT. The $20 million is the amount allocated to CRAFT among the 16 selected projects listed in that document. DOE notes, however, that award amounts and cost-share figures may change through further negotiation, so the final spending is not yet settled.
Using AI and digital twins to make manufacturing more efficient
CRAFT's research covers a wide range of steps, including pulping (extracting papermaking fibers from wood and other materials), chemical recovery (reusing chemicals), papermaking (forming the sheet), and dewatering and drying (removing moisture). For these processes, it combines modeling from the molecular level up to the entire manufacturing process, AI-driven exploration of new technologies, and experimental validation of performance. Alongside research to improve the manufacturing processes themselves, the center plans to develop alternative materials and new manufacturing methods.
To improve operations at existing mills, CRAFT will use technologies such as sensors, AI, and digital twins. A digital twin recreates the state of actual equipment and manufacturing processes in a digital space, and is used to analyze operating conditions and examine the effects of changes. CRAFT aims to combine such methods with operational data analysis to improve energy consumption and production efficiency.
That said, AI analysis results will not be treated as factory improvements as they stand. Process conditions or technical improvements proposed by models must be verified for performance and applicability through experiments and test facilities. ORNL plans to work with companies to consider investing in testing from the early stages of research, and to provide an environment in which technologies such as automation, modeling, and data analysis can be used.
The aim is to let promising technologies be evaluated before they are introduced in actual mills. In manufacturing, even when a new process or piece of equipment performs well in the lab, compatibility with existing equipment, scaling up to production volumes, and implementation costs can become obstacles. By linking research resources with testing opportunities, CRAFT will give companies material for judging not only whether a technology works, but also whether it can be expected to deliver improvements that justify the investment.
Drying, a heavy energy user, is also a research target
Improving energy efficiency in the paper industry has long been a DOE priority. In a 2015 DOE study of US pulp and paper manufacturing, energy consumption was estimated for six manufacturing processes, and the potential for reductions using existing and developing technologies was analyzed. The six processes accounted for 52% of the industry's total energy consumption, and the analysis was used to estimate energy-saving potential for the industry as a whole.
The 52% is the share of energy consumed by the processes studied, not the share that could be cut through energy savings. The 2015 findings are also not a result of CRAFT's research; they are a past analysis for understanding energy use in papermaking and the potential for improvement. They indicate that raising efficiency across the paper industry requires understanding the energy consumption of each process and specifically considering what to improve and how.
New moisture-removal technologies have also been under development for the drying stage. For example, a DOE document published on April 29, 2021 described a plan by the University of Minnesota to develop a technology that combines radio frequency and ultrasonics with conventional manufacturing processes to improve moisture-removal efficiency. The project covered design, development, fabrication, and testing, with the aim of actually building and validating a research-stage technology.
However, this does not mean the technology has been commercialized or that it has been selected for CRAFT's research. What past R&D and CRAFT share is the challenge that process-improvement technologies must be not only developed in the lab but also verified for performance and practicality as equipment. CRAFT will prepare pilot-scale testing opportunities for this kind of verification so that companies can decide whether to commercialize new technologies or introduce them into existing facilities.
Long-term targets: 10–25% better energy efficiency, up to 17% lower costs
CRAFT will spend its first three years building the foundation for research, development, and technology validation, and over the long term aims to improve the energy efficiency and production costs of the paper and forest-products industry. The official page sets targets of improving energy efficiency by 10–25% and reducing production costs by up to 17%.
| Item | Plan / target | Timing / conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Federal funding | $20 million | Listed in the FY2025–FY2027 selection document; the amount may change through negotiation |
| Research foundation | Research tools, pilot-scale test facilities, expert network, commercialization support framework | First three years |
| Energy efficiency | 10–25% improvement | Long-term target |
| Production cost | Up to 17% reduction | Long-term target |
It is important to distinguish between the plan for the first three years and the long-term improvement targets. What will be built in the three years is research facilities, testing opportunities, and a framework for working with companies; CRAFT is not promising to reach the energy-efficiency or production-cost targets within that period. Also, a gain in energy efficiency does not necessarily equal a reduction in energy consumption, and the two cannot simply be substituted for each other.
At this point, the reference mills and target processes used to calculate the targets, the specific deadlines for achieving them, and improvement results measured at actual mills have not been disclosed. Companies will also need to confirm individually the availability of facilities and contract terms when using CRAFT. If pilot tests clarify the target processes, comparison conditions, energy consumption, production costs, and capital investment, companies will be able to judge more concretely the benefits of adoption at their own mills.
CRAFT's significance lies not only in developing new technologies with AI but also in its attempt to build a framework for validating the results on the manufacturing floor and carrying them through to commercialization. How feasible the targets of 10–25% better energy efficiency and up to 17% lower production costs are will become clear through future testing. How far the initiative can close the gap between laboratory technology development and practical use in factories will determine its outcome.