Kit Processing and Direct Ship Items

I have a requirement to emulate kit processing but there are two challenges in terms of data.  First, all of the items are direct ship items that the client does not inventory.  The second challenge is that one of the components of the kit is sourced from another vendor and then direct shipped to the vendor associated with the parent.  I have a couple of questions: 1.  Are direct ship items supported in terms of kit processing?; 2. Is there a "standard" way other than manual intervention to choose a different ship to on the component line other than the