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Small and medium-sized enterprises, by increasing job creation and reducing poverty, lead to the economic and social growth of developing countries. Today, these companies face rapid market shifts and budget cuts that have reduced their ability and, consequently, increased risk of planning. Therefore, the need for a new system of governance, called the clean production system, is felt. Lean production is a production method that deliver quality products to customers while eliminating any process that is not worthwhile for the customer. The main objective of the present research is to determine the factors affecting the implementation of the principles of lean production in food industry small and medium-sized enterprises of Khuzestan province. The statistical population of the study consisted of all managers of food industry small and medium enterprises of Khuzestan (N = 307). By using Krejcie and Morgan’s Table and stratified random sampling with proportional to size 170 of them (n = 170) were selected as sample. Of these, 161respondents completed the questionnaires. The results of correlation analysis showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the factors affecting the implementation of the principles of clean production, including the management of the relationship with the supplier and the use of information technology by implementing the principles of lean production. According to the results of regression analysis, three variables of customer relationship management, human resources management and empowerment of employees have the most effect in implementing the principles of lean production.
 

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 Lean production system is a new management approach and a business strategy that results in the elimination of waste (costs and time) and improvement of the performance and overall value of an organization. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing implementation of Lean Production Principle (LPP) and its relation with the performance of Small and Medium-sized Food Industry Enterprises (SMFIEs) in Khuzestan Province. This study was a kind of descriptive-correlation and causal-relation that was conducted through a survey technique. Statistical population of the study consisted of all managers in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Khuzestan food industry (N= 307). By using Krejcie and Morgan’s tables and stratified random sampling method, 170 person were selected as sample, of which 161 person completed the research questionnaires (return rate 94.7%). The results show that among the eight factors that influence the implementation of LPP, three variables of “customer relationship management”, "human resource management”, and “employees’ empowerment” have the most direct effects on LPP and, ultimately, the highest total effect on SMFIEs performance. The implementation of LPP could explain about 31 percent of variances in SMFIEs performance. Conducting justification and education workshops not only enhances the knowledge of SMFIEs managers, but also helps implement the LPP and, subsequently, improves the performance of SMFIEs.