The publisher's own print shop in Schederhofstrasse in Essen is one of the most modern and largest printing-works in Europe and produces a large portion of the issues of the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) and the entire issue of the Neue Ruhr Zeitung / Neue Rhein Zeitung (NRZ).

On six days out of seven, approx. 600,000 newspaper copies, as well as many external orders and the publisher's own advertising papers, are printed out on eight modern WIFAG OF 470 printing machines, which insiders affectionately call "Rolls Royce". On daily average, the WAZ printing-works produces approx. 2.2 million printed copies, including advertising papers and external orders.

The journey of each copy begins in plate preparation: here, the newspaper and advertiser pages from the editorial offices are received in the form of electronic records and are put onto aluminium print plates, a process aptly called CTP (computer-to-plate). The high quality, four-colour print of the Essen rotation is only natural, given the existing technical facilities. The mighty printing machines not only get the actual printing done, they also automatically control the cutting and folding of the newspaper pages. After production, the finished daily papers are carried over endless chains to the mailroom, where state of the art technology adds the inserts and brochures to them in double quick time before they are bundled and placed onto ramps to wait for delivery to their subscribers.