As an engineer at the other end of the career, honestly I have to just sit here and chuckle. Very early in my career I, too, thought that the folks that had been doing this for decades needed the advantages of my vast wisdom. Did not go well. The beginning of wisdom is to admit ignorance.
Well, now you've gone and opened your mouth, and got yourself an assignment (instead of being fired on the spot thankfully). And the first thing you do is to ask others, who are unfamiliar with the situation, for advice.
Here's my advice: Go back to that same CEO and tell him that on reflection you have realized that you spoke too soon. Tell him that after you noticed a problem, you should have at least taken the time to try to define it clearly, and then try to identify and verify potential root causes. You saw symptoms, not causes. When you bring up a problem, always have a suggested solution ready. (You will find this to be a maxim to live by in corporate life.)
Ask him for some time. (I'm thinking a few weeks to become familiar with the company "culture", the "way we do things here".) And promise a firm date on which you will come back with 3-4 well thought-out and feasible suggested changes.
You will realize that the true root cause here is human nature. We all tend to see only the world directly around us. It is not in our nature to put extra thought into how our actions, or lack of action, might affect others later. Unless there is a system in place that encourages a different result, that's what you will get.
For example, I see this every single day in my work in an engineering office in a manufacturing plant. Drawings are my life. And many of those drawings are several decades old, done by guys long retired or dead. A few of those guys would take a few extra minutes to add reference information on those drawings to let future users know a little about their history, where they came from and why they were done. That information is EXTREMELY helpful to those of us that are still using them. Unfortunately, that quality was very rare in those guys, and still is. I learned from that and always try to add that kind of helpful information on my drawings.
To quote my own my father, "Now that your academics are over your true education can begin."