As the internal requirement of the development of China’s traditional manufacturing industry, intelligent transformation has gradually become the main goal of China’s regional manufacturing transformation. From the perspective of manufacturing value chain, this paper proposes a conceptual model of intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry. Taking 22 sample cities as cases, the paper uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to identify the necessary factors of intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry and the configuration analysis of each factor combination, and then obtains three realization paths to promote intelligent transformation. The results show that intelligent technology innovation and intelligent industry investment are the necessary conditions for the intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry, and there are three configuration paths: collaborative R&D and processing, external factor driven and value chain climbing, which promote the intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry. This paper enriches the research on intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry from the perspective of value chain, and uses the qualitative comparative analysis method of fuzzy set to provide countermeasures and suggestions for the direction and path of intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry.

Taking intelligent manufacturing pilot enterprises such as the verification sample, this paper uses system dynamics modeling and system simulation methods to analyze the influencing factors and climbing modes of their value chain climbing system under the intelligent transformation. The results show that (1) the value chain climbing system under the intelligent transformation is divided into the original chain climbing layer, cross-chain horizontal climbing layer, and new chain vertical climbing layer; (2) intelligence level, technological innovation level, market share, green development, and government investment all positively impact the value increase. Increased technological innovation level can effectively promote the rise of the value chain from the original chain climbing level to the cross-chain horizontal climbing level. The increase in market scale can effectively promote the rise of the value chain from the cross-chain horizontal climbing level to the new chain vertical climbing level. Green development has a significant impact when enterprises climb to the high end of the value chain; (3) with the deepening of intelligent transformation, the value chain system rises in an orderly, layer by layer manner.