A vacuum coating unit includes a reactive gas inlet, at least one PVD coating source with a laminar cathode and a substrate carrier containing a multiplicity of substrates. The substrate carrier forms a two dimensional horizontal extent, and the carrier is between at least two PVD coating sources. The substrates are cutting tools with at least one cutting edge in their peripheral margin region, which are distributed in a plane of the two dimensional extent of the substrate carrier. The substrate carrier is in a horizontal plane in the vacuum process chamber spaced between the laminar cathodes of the PVD coating sources and positioned such that at least a portion of each of the at least one cutting edge includes an active cutting edge and this active cutting edge is oriented opposite at least one of the cathodes of the PVD coating sources exposed at any time along a line of sight.