Inside Apple's top secret iPhone factory where 50,000 pink-jacketed staff aresubjected to facial recognition, metal detectors and daily roll Lined up with military precision, hundreds of employees wait to make iPhones at one of the most secretive factories in the Apple production line.
Dressed in pink jackets, blue hairnets and plastic slippers, the workers have their ID badges scanned on an iPad by a supervisor at morning roll call.
From there, they make their way in single file to the assembly line but not before undergoing facial recognition checks at security turnstiles to clock in.
Pegatron Corp employs up to 50,000 people to assemble iPhones at its plant in Shanghai which covers an area the size of 90 football fields.
As they enter the compound, workers must pass through metal detectors designed to weed out any camera or video equipment that could be used to leak details of any unreleased technology.
They then climb up a stairwell that has a safety net draped across the middle – to prevent accidents or suicide attempts – before getting changed into their uniforms and lining up for roll call.
Until now, the factory's inner workings have been a closely guarded secret.
But the two firms have, for the first time, allowed a western journalist inside after facing years of accusations that their staff were having to work gruelling hours on low pay.
Jenny Chan, a lecturer at Oxford's Kellogg College, said: '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, they're trying to fix something.'
According to China Labour Watch, base salaries are so low employees are forced to work overtime just to get by, with one employee revealing her salary was 2,020 yuan (£230) a month. An iPhone 6 in China costs 4,488 yuan (£480).
The reporter from Bloomberg, the head of the facility John Sheu said the new ID system was introduced to improve efficiency, adding that 'every seconds counts.'
But he says it also allows the company to monitor when staff are working too many hours by sending managers automated messages if they near the 60-hour weekly limit or have clocked in six days in a row.
Pegatron said it adheres to the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition's guidelines that cap overtime at roughly 80 hours a month, while Apple said its suppliers stick to the industry group's code of conduct.
The system also gives them a higher level of income transparency by letting staff check their hours, pay stubs and monthly lodging and food expenses at touchscreen terminals around the campus.
Keeping tabs: A supervisor scans staff into an iPad during the morning roll call before they head to the assembly line to make iPhones
Roll call: Pegatron and Apple have adopted new procedures to keep assemblers from doing excessive overtime after years of accusations
Employees line up for roll call at the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China, before heading to the assembly line for the day's work
Off to work they go: The staff wear blue hair nets and plastic slippers as they make their way to the assembly area after roll call
An employee looks into a facial recognition device which registers workers when they enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron factory
Staff look into facial recognition devices as they swipe their badges to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron factory in Shanghai
Time for work: Employees walk through turnstiles to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China
The factory is one of the most secretive facilities in the iPhone production line and covers an area equal to almost 90 football fields
An employee uses a facial recognition device as she swipes her badge to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron Corp factory
Staff walk past rows of lockers. Pegatron says it adopted the new ID system to create an efficient and responsible working environment'
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