Pick and place has always needed to rotate because the odds of the PCB part being in the same orientation as the supplied tape is extremely low especially for a

Pick and place has always needed to rotate because the odds of the PCB part being in the same orientation as the supplied tape is extremely low especially for analog parts or RF parts. Even for "purely digital designs" (LOL, all circuits are analog) you never had tapes of 0.1 uF decoupling capacitors in vertical vs horizontal orientation, or four tapes of LEDs in various orientations (LEDs have polarity).