The Pegatron factory sits at the corner of Xiu Yan and Shen Jiang roads in Shanghai China and it's one of the most secretive iPhone production facilities on the planet. It covers an area equal to almost 90 football fields. The Bloomberg exclusive report notes that "The fact they let a reporter in shows that they are responding to external pressure and trying to be more transparent—at least on the surface." As noted in our report's cover graphic, you're able to see the morning roll call at the factory and identity checkpoints that are set up where workers enter the assembly area of the plant. The strict ID check points are there to make sure they don't work excessive overtime. The process takes less than two seconds.

After years of accusations from organizations such as 'China Labor Watch' that employees in China were being forced to work long, grueling hours, Pegatron and Apple adopted new procedures to keep some 50,000 iPhone assemblers from amassing excessive overtime.

China labor Watch to this day thinks that the new system is just for show for Western Media. For context, China Labor Watch was the organization working with and guiding the BBC's so-called documentary called 'Broken Promises.' Apple responded forcefully to the allegations made in the documentary. Patently Apple also wrote a follow-up report titled "The BBC Report about Apple is motivated by Politics and Unions," with the view that the documentary was more of a coordinated smear campaign against Apple organized by China Labor Watch.

Pegatron told Bloomberg that they "adhere to the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition's guidelines that cap overtime at roughly 80 hours a month. Apple said its suppliers stick to the industry group's code of conduct, while Pegatron said it and other manufacturers are exempt from China's state maximum of 36 overtime hours a month.

For Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer, the scrutiny is a direct challenge to the carefully assembled global supply chain he built as head of operations under the late Steve Jobs. The iPhone maker said it conducted 640 audits covering more than 1.6 million workers in 2015."

While giving Bloomberg's report the royal tour, Denese Yao, who oversees Pegatron's relationship with Apple, said that "Manufacturing is not a sin. People think we're just squeezing everything out of the workers."

Conditions in Apple plants have been evolving with Apple's help. "The focus is now shifting to productivity and talent retention as wages rise and an aging population reduces the worker pool. The nondescript factories and sweatshops of old are giving way to modern-style campuses with amenities such as free Wi-Fi, television lounges, cleaning services and even options for upgraded dorms." And because of the size of the plant and age of workers, there's even a brand-new Shanghai Disneyland opening its doors in June, that just a convenient 20-minute drive away. For more on this fascinating report, read the full Bloomberg report here.

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