A study of the influence of macroparticles in coatings deposited by Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) was carried out using an industrially oriented approach. Two deposition technologies were compared, the Arc PVD and the Electron Beam Ion plating PVD, testing commercial titanium nitride coatings available from these technologies. Besides testing standard coatings an improved non commercial version of a titanium nitride arc coating was tested. The work was developed both by laboratory characterizations and industrial machining tests. An exhaustive characterization of the analysed coatings was obtained. The overall results of this work clarify the differences among arc and electron beam technologies and gave important hints for further developing titanium nitride arc coatings. The study can be useful to professionals and researchers in the field of PVD coating who are focusing on PVD coating performances for cutting.