1. In a computing device, a method of altering a graphical model of an engineered system, the method comprising: identifying, using the computing device, a component of the graphical model for conversion into a reference, the component being identified based on one or more selected characteristics or an application of one or more heuristics; processing, using the computing device, the component to identify a pattern of one or more similarities with one or more other components or one or more similarities of one or more selected characteristics; replacing, using the computing device, a similar pattern or a set of selected characteristics of a representation of the component with a reference to a previous occurrence of that similar pattern or the set of selected characteristics in a representation of any other component; and storing the reference and contents of the representation of the any other component in the computing device for coordinating a graphical modeling process.