Often clinical but sometimes chaotic in appearance, the modern technology is the antithesis of the slick marketing images for consumer electronics.

Off limits to the general public, they can also be fascinating. Our recent photos from a tour of Nikon's Japanese camera facility got a lot of attention. We've also posted galleries looking inside a TV crushing plant, and another one of the anechoic chambers and spray baths inside a laptop plant in Japan.

Controversy continues over the working conditions inside these places - Foxconn is perhaps the most high profile target of these attacks. More recently, high profile Foxconn critic, Mike Daisey, earned headlines over the accuracy of his statements. Some argue that workers in some of these factories get jobs they wouldn't otherwise have. Others argue against the working conditions and low wages.

With all this in mind, here we look at a selection of images from various manufacturing facilities over the last decade. From Poland to Japan, China and elsewhere.

[Caption: Getty Images]

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