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PurposeThe paper aims to investigate how teamwork contributes to successful maintenance practice within maintenance work in an industrial setting.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data were gathered from a single case. This includes interviews, participatory observation and document collection.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe paper provides a deep understanding of a unique case, but should be supplemented with more data in order to reach general conclusions.Practical implicationsMany companies struggle with implementing total productive maintenance. The paper provides an understanding on how TPM can successfully be supported by teamwork.Originality/valueFew 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.