Culture is important at companies. Without it quality engineering can’t/won’t happen. People will rise to the bar set by their leadership unfortunately.
Example: The engineering of the Boeing 737 Max
Source: - https://www.netflix.com/title/81272421
> Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure sind alleine oder – bei arbeitsteiliger Zusammenarbeit – mitverantwortlich für die Folgen ihrer beruflichen Arbeit sowie für die sorgfältige Wahrnehmung ihrer spezifischen Pflichten, die ihnen aufgrund ihrer Kompetenz und ihres Sachverstandes zukommen
Translated with Google translate:
> Engineers are solely or – in the case of collaborative work – jointly responsible for the Consequences of their professional work as well as for the physical performance of their specific duties, which are due to them due to their competence and their expertise
Carrying this responsibility is a (indirekt) requirement for being legally able to call yourself engineer here.
Edit: a Netflix movie is a form of entertainment and not a valid source.
You can hire the best artisans for your pot making company and make some of the best pots. However, sooner or later you will encounter problems like disparate outcomes of quality (due to different people having different standards of style, crafting and discipline), unpredictability and reliability.
An engineer role is to standardize processes and turn things like quality into a predictable outcome. It's not just about being good and not being bad.
What you are describing doesn’t match my lived experience in this industry