Funny, back last century I designed a midi controlled analog patch bay (AMR MAP8x4).
Not exactly a box full of relays, instead it accepted feeds from 8 channel inserts. Then it supported 4 separate effects devices. Under midi control any one of the efx devices could be pathed into any insert point. The efx could even be used in series in any order. The audio switching did not click *** so efx could be patched during the mix. In fact using smpte time code and midi controlled efx units the same effects unit could be used on different inserts, in a different efx mode, within the same song.
Back in the 80s/90s digital efx units were expensive so this was handy to get the most utility out of only a couple efx (but I like all my designs).
JR
**** I steered the audio using CMOS transfer gates. I de-clicked the punch-ins using HF pre/de-emphasis.