Bear with me here, because this is a big idea.

The current system of purchasing and manufacturing weapons is this, you go to a station, and the station always has certain items in stock.

My idea would be this: Weapons are manufactured in stations transparently, where you just provide the raw materials - ores and commodities - and out pops the weapon. Stations would have missions available seeking out items to manufacture their inventory - this being the weapons that the current stations always have available.
This would mean a few things:
Stations could go out of stock on certain items.
Players would need to provide the required items to stations to make sure that they remain in stock, or NPCs could do so in order to make the universe more lively and to make sure that stations don't 'sell out'. However, all of this would require the manufacturing system currently being worked upon by the devs to be in place.

All of this is alot to ask for.

What do you think? Viable? or Insane?

If there were to be a proper supply and demand system with items and manufacturing in a dynamic economy, there would need to be NPC run mining expeditions, convoys (same thing now but they actually affect the economy), and maybe Hive Hunter groups for clearing infested sectors for mining or scrap salvage (scrap metal, hive processors, hive weaponry, etc.). Just so the whole damn thing doesn't come crashing down due to no one supplying the station with enough goods.

Of course these NPC run groups should appear as missions and yet still run regularly so that in case no one does those missions they still get what they need without using 'magik' to keep it all together.

EDIT: Plus, not every station looks like it could have a manufacturing plant within it, so they would need resupply by way of convoys.

EDIT: And it is viable.

This is actually a good idea. This could introduce tradeskilling. For example, you could combine commodities and ores to create new weapon types. Not everyone needs to use the same weapon or the best weapon. Allowing tradeskilling and creation of new weapon would produce a complex and unique game.

Viable, and something similar is in the plan already.

If it ran like Surb described--and could therefore break down--the opportunities for actually harming your enemy by shredding his NPCs would be legion.

I long for that day.