When Apple says it's going to take responsibility for its suppliers, they mean it -- and one such company got the axe in 2012 after Cupertino discovered 74 violations for underage labor.
Apple released its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, the seventh year Cupertino has published the results of its own audits of supply chain vendors, which they use to address any problems that come up during the 12 months.
"We’re fixing problems and tackling issues that our entire industry faces, such as excessive work hours and underage labor," Apple's website notes. "We’re going deeper into the supply chain than any other company we know of, and we’re reporting at a level of detail that is unparalleled in our industry."
As if to prove the point, the 2012 report (PDF link) reveals that Apple has cut off Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics (PZ), a supply chain vendor who racked up 74 violations involving underage labor during last year, most of whom were supplied by Shenzhen Quanshun Human Resources, a huge staffing firm who's also accused of helping forge necessary age verification documents in the first place.
2012 was also the year that Apple's manufacturing in China was put under the microscope, with supplier Foxconn becoming practically a household name after extensive media coverage in the U.S.
Apple claims to have conducted 393 audits "at all levels of our supply chain" in 2012, a 72 percent increase over the previous year, covering a whopping 1.5 million workers. The move seems to be paying off, with independent audits showing big improvements across the board and plenty more changes ahead for this year.
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