Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of total productive maintenance (TPM) practices on manufacturing performance of textile and apparel manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approach– A self-administered survey questionnaire was used for data collection. A total of 236 usable responses resulted in a 78 percent response rate from 30 textile and apparel firms. Correlation and regression analysis was performed using SPSS software to identify the effect of TPM on manufacturing performance.Findings– The results show that all the TPM practices have positive and significant relationship with manufacturing performance and significantly improve cost effectiveness, product quality, on-time delivery and volume flexibility.Practical implications– The study presented in this paper offers academics and practitioners a better understanding of the relationship and impact of the TPM practices on the manufacturing performances. Thus practitioners will be able to make better and more effective decisions about the implementation of TPM practices.Originality/value– The understanding of the effect of TPM practices on manufacturing performance is timely for labor intensive manufacturing industries such as textile and apparel since it has not been researched adequately. Therefore, findings will impact the global textile and apparel industry positively.