OBJECTIVES: To compare the cost of disposable items used during cataract surgery with and without Custom Pak ® in two French public centres. METHODS: Custom Pak ® is a customised package that provides all the necessary disposable devices specified by a surgeon for cataract surgery in one sterile bag. An exploratory time and motion analysis of cataract surgeries at two well-known French public centres was carried out to compare operations performed with the customized versus regular set ups. The time and category of employees involved during the cataract surgery was recorded from the start to the finish of the operation. Moreover, the time costs of professionals was calculated from available information. The potential for increasing turnover to the hospitals was also estimated. RESULTS: The main time savings benefit with the Custom Pak® was observed during the preparation phase of the cataract surgical intervention. The mean time of surgical preparation was decreased by 10.45 minutes with a total time deceased of 16.15 minutes for the individual surgeon. The savings associated with this gain in time was estimated to be 17.63€ as compared with an incremental Custom Pak ® cost of 11.30€. During one operating session of 4 hours, the Custom Pak ® allowed the hospitals to perform 1.02 more cataract operations (n=4.36 cataract operations without Custom Pak® and n=5.38 cataract operations with Custom Pak®) and to increase the overall hospital turn-over by 1,863€, that is, the amount paid for this extra cataract surgery to the public hospital at an additional costs of 61€ for Custom Pak® devices. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the Custom Pak ® increases the productivity and potential for turnover associated with performing cataract surgery. This increased turnover easily exceeds the extra cost of the customized package.