Medtronic, the world’s largest manufacturer of medical devices, is in the process of restructuring to accelerate growth in the future. The restructuring plans were announced this August and included leadership changes, as well as consolidation of its businesses into two operating units. The news came just after the announcement of a 38% dip in Medtronic stock in mid-August. The leaner operations may have helped Medtronic’s bottom line, but they came at the right time as medical device manufacturers such as St. Jude have reported soft sales in 2009 due to macroeconomic factors.

Medtronic is one of the medical industry’s best success stories, being founded in a garage in 1949 in Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie. Their consolidation from six to two business units represents a very lean restructuring of the company. The company is best known for its pacemakers, but also manufactures equipment for diabetes testing. They employ over 41,000 people and their revenue in 2008 was $14.5 billion.