This article explores the necessity and trends of AI adoption in manufacturing under the wave of smart transformation. AI enhances flexibility, predictive capabilities, and complex data processing, with applications in supply chain management, scheduling optimization, defect detection, and customer analysis. It highlights generative AI as a solution for data scarcity and provides a four-stage roadmap for AI implementation: ideation, design, validation, and execution. These strategies help manufacturers reduce costs, improve efficiency, and accelerate digital transformation toward intelligent factories.