Lead engineer for P1AM here. You're definitely right P1AM is not going to replace every PLC around. We've seen several applications, like you've mentioned, where it's used as a supplement to a traditional PLC. We've also seen many customers start to use it as their go to device in their systems. It's all about giving people flexibility in their options.
P1AM does support ladder (and the other IEC languages) through OpenPLC(https://openplcproject.com/). This is great if you want a blend of IEC languages as ProductivitySuite only does ladder. On the other hand, if someone decides the P1AM isn't the right fit, it's easy to pop in a P1-540 and go the traditional PLC route without having to completely redo the physical system since it's all the same IO.
P1AM does support ladder (and the other IEC languages) through OpenPLC(https://openplcproject.com/). This is great if you want a blend of IEC languages as ProductivitySuite only does ladder. On the other hand, if someone decides the P1AM isn't the right fit, it's easy to pop in a P1-540 and go the traditional PLC route without having to completely redo the physical system since it's all the same IO.