In 1971 the Raytheon Data Systems division was created by merging the company’s information processing and display units divisions. Raytheon tried to integrate the Data Systems division with their word processing subsidiary, Lexitron, but it was unsuccessful.
In 1983, Raytheon Data Systems lost approximately $24.3 million and the division lost $6.2 million during the first four months of 1984.
Having experienced increasing difficulties in profitability, manufacturing and marketing commercial data systems, Raytheon no longer saw a profit opportunity to continue to serve the commercial data and word processing equipment markets and sold the division was sold to Telex in 1984.
1981 Raytheon Data Systems Ad
Of the 3,625 people worldwide employed by Raytheon Data Systems, approximately 1,500 worked in Norwood and 650 of them lost their jobs. At the time, Raytheon was the state’s largest employer, with 20,000 workers.
Today, Stop & Shop, Home Depot and a Chipotle sit on the former Raytheon site at 1415 Providence Highway / Route 1.
