Burnishing is a very simple and effective method for improvement in surface finish and can be carried out using existing machines, such as lathe. On account of its high productivity, it also saves more on production costs than other conventional processes such as super-finishing, honing and grinding. Moreover, the burnished surface has a high wear resistance and better fatigue life. This paper presents an investigation for the comparison of the effect of the uncoated and TiN coating by reactive magnetron sputtering on EN31 rollers in burnishing with varying process parameters such as burnishing speed, feed, burnishing force, number of passes upon surface roughness of EN24 steel work material. It was observed that the performance of the TiN-coated roller is superior to uncoated rollers in burnishing operation. The burnishing speed, feed, depth of cut and number of passes are the influencing parameters on the burnishing operation. The burnishing speed, burnishing force and number of passes are having almost equal importance on the performance of the roller in burnishing, particularly with reference to the surface finish of the components produced. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.