Save materials from components for use across other models

I have components that I use in various models repeatedly. The materials in those components were renamed and IRender settings were applied in the component file. What I'd like to be able to do is to be able to bring these components into various models and each time have the IRender settings come in with the components so that I don't have to change them each time. The components are fairly complex with a lot of materials. I looked at styles, but the tutorials don't really seem to address this directly or tell me how to do it. Any help would be appreciated.