Based on grounded theory, a digital resilience scale was developed and a digital resilience model for manufacturing workers was constructed, centered on the core categories of “tough resilience” “determined transformation” and “flexible growth”. This model comprises three dimensions and 16 items. To further examine the scale’s external validity, a theoretical model linking “manufacturing workers’ digital resilience-promotive moderation focus-innovative proactive behavior” was constructed based on the proactive motivation model, incorporating visionary leadership as a moderating variable. Findings revealed: manufacturing workers’ digital resilience positively influenced promotive focus and innovative anticipatory behavior; promoting focus partially mediated the relationship between manufacturing workers’ digital resilience and innovative anticipatory behavior; visionary leadership positively moderated not only the relationship between digital resilience and promoting-focused mediation, but also the indirect effect of digital resilience on innovative anticipatory behavior through promoting-focused mediation.