I don’t think the OP mentioned the type of product he works on but it sounds a lot like B to B. and in my experience some times these products can go decades before getting redesigned or needing new tooling. Often they’ve been cost reduced to within an inch of holding together, and anything that adds money is just considered wrong. So you end up with a hodgepodge of products designed by various designers over long periods of time.
In my case the customers really don’t care. My advice is to offer material cost savings plus part reductions across the board in such a way as to pull together (a timeless aesthetic) over the next 10-20 years of product development. You may not want to be on the job that long to make it happen though.