The digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is a vital component for China to achieve high-quality economic development and to build its manufacturing strength. Amid a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the contradictions of China’s manufacturing sector being “large but not strong, comprehensive but not superior” have become increasingly prominent, accompanied by the risks of “bottlenecks” and “supply chain disruptions”. As an exemplar of “digital manufacturing” and “globalization 4.0”, the “Lighthouse Factory” has emerged as a new trend and benchmark for the future of intelligent manufacturing. It demonstrates how forward-thinking strategies can achieve new sources of value creation in digital transformation, such as cost reduction, efficiency improvement, scalable expansion, and green sustainable development, playing a pivotal role in guiding the digital transformation of China’s manufacturing industry. Based on the dilemmas facing China’s manufacturing digital transformation, this paper deeply analyzes the outstanding and in-depth innovation practices of the “Lighthouse Factory”, summarizes the breakthrough paths for digital transformation in manufacturing, and proposes corresponding policy recommendations. The study finds that current dilemmas include: cognitive biases toward digital transformation and ambiguous transformation goals; weak technological breakthroughs in digital technologies and insufficient implementation across entire processes; a lack of demand orientation and lagging innovation transformation; organizational change inertia and a shortage of digital talent; and weak collaborative linkages, particularly the insufficient transformation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises. The paper identifies five breakthrough paths: strategy formulation, value chain restructuring, business model innovation, employee and organizational change, and industrial ecosystem development. It further proposes strategic suggestions such as fully unleashing the “lighthouse effect”, accelerating the diffusion of digital technologies, building multi-stakeholder digital alliances, and strengthening policy support for digital transformation in manufacturing, with the aim of providing reference and guidance for the digital transformation and upgrading of Chinese manufacturing enterprises, thereby facilitating the transition from “Made in China” to “Intelligently Made in China”.