Purpose -The paper aims to investigate how teamwork contributes to successful maintenance practice within maintenance work in an industrial setting. Design/methodology/approach -Qualitative data were gathered from a single case. This includes interviews, participatory observation and document collection. Findings -The findings suggest that even though TPM is originally a technologically-based concept, the explanations for success or failure are mainly organisational, pointing to management style, collaboration between maintenance and production, involvement and teamwork. This case study shows that a high degree of team autonomy was an important contributor to success; a point not previously emphasized in the literature.Research limitations/implications -The paper provides a deep understanding of a unique case, but should be supplemented with more data in order to reach general conclusions. Practical implications -Many companies struggle with implementing total productive maintenance. The paper provides an understanding on how TPM can successfully be supported by teamwork. Originality/value -Few case studies on TPM and teamwork are available. The main contribution of the paper is a deep understanding of teamwork and maintenance practices, and of including autonomy in TPM teams.