The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes the promotion of high-end, intelligent, and green development in the manufacturing industry. Based on the GML-SBM and SBM-DDF models, the carbon total factor productivity(CTFP) of manufacturing A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2022 was calculated. The impact and channels of intelligent manufacturing on enhancing enterprise CTFP were explored from both input and application perspectives. It is found that intelligent manufacturing significantly improves enterprise CTFP, with technological efficiency change being the main driving force. Intelligent manufacturing primarily enhances enterprise CTFP through four pathways: reducing capital and labor usage costs, promoting capital deepening, and improving capital output efficiency. The impact and channels are stronger for young enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises in highly competitive industries and technology-intensive industries, enterprises in regions with high levels of intellectual property protection, and enterprises in industrial bases. The findings provide policy insights for the implementation of intelligent manufacturing strategies and the achievement of “dual carbon” targets, and have significant reference value for the intelligent transformation of manufacturing enterprises.