Using commercial PLC instead of classic ladder

All: I have been looking at classic ladder etc. I am thinking of applications such as VMC with ATC and much I/O. I would like to use Mesa board for servos conventional PLC such as Automation Direct interfaced to EMC. Has this been done? I like the dedicated hardware and solid performance of PLC and leving PLC to concentrate on servos and GUI. Appricate any thoughts on the subject.
Thanks

Hello (I do not understand wich application is "VMC with ATC") .....

If you want to connect an external PLC to EMC you can do it using the Modbus communication option (master or slave is up to you) over serial line (RTU) or Ethernet (TCP/IP).
In any case I prefer to use Classic Ladder as a bridge to the external PLC linking I/Os with an .HAL file for the use inside EMC.
The Logic of your machine will be managed by the external PLC.
The link between EMC and the externel PLC will be managed by Classic Ladder and .HAL file.
The link between EMC part programs and the external PLC will be performed by using M1xx functions .