How to "attach" an object to another's surface (surviving later modifiers)?

[robkar97]

I'm doing an animation where an object ("A") needs to sit on the surface of another object ("B"), and I need to have the ability to add and animate modifiers to "B" - for example Bend - and when it is applied and animated, "A" should keep its position on the surface of "B".

 

I know collapsing "A" and "B" to meshes, and using Attach works... but I guess there is a smarter way!

 

Sincerely

Robert