The challenge of recent machining industries is reduced lead time and increase production rate in order to maintain their competitiveness. The mechanical manufacturing industries are regularly challenged for achieving higher productivity and high-quality products in order to remain competitive. The desired shape, size and finished ferrous and non- ferrous materials are conventionally produced by turning the preformed blanks with the help of cutting tools that moved past the workpiece in a machine tool. Among various cutting processes, turning process is one of the most fundamental and most applied metal removal operations in a real manufacturing environment. This literature review compiles different work presented on optimization of process parameters and concludes the most significant cutting parameters and most frequently used optimization techniques for improving surface finish. The cutting parameters like Cutting speed, Feed rate and Depth of cut are taken into consideration.