diff --git a/bin/process_BOM.py b/bin/process_BOM.py
index cb3c685..775cea7 100644
--- a/bin/process_BOM.py
+++ b/bin/process_BOM.py
@@ -8,21 +8,21 @@ from collections import OrderedDict
 import csv, sys, re
 
 if len(sys.argv) < 2:
-    print "Error! Please specify a BOM file name."
+    print ("Error! Please specify a BOM file name.")
     sys.exit(1)
 fileName = sys.argv[1]
 
 if len(sys.argv) > 2:
-    repl = sys.argv[2]
+    repl_csv = sys.argv[2]
 
-print "Opening BOM file " + fileName + "..."
+print ("Opening BOM file " + fileName + "...")
 
 rows = OrderedDict()
 emptyId = 1
 
 with open(fileName, 'rb') as f:
     reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter=',')
-    print "Searching for duplicates..."
+    print ("Searching for duplicates...")
     for row in reader:
         rowName = row[3]
         # all empty names should be saved separately
@@ -34,45 +34,53 @@ with open(fileName, 'rb') as f:
         if rowName in rows:
             oldRow = rows[rowName]
             if oldRow[0] != row[0]:
-            	print "* Error! Comment mismatch for the part #" + rowName + ": " + oldRow[0] + " != " + row[0]
+            	print ("* Error! Comment mismatch for the part #" + rowName + ": " + oldRow[0] + " != " + row[0])
             	sys.exit(2)
             if oldRow[2] != row[2]:
-            	print "* Warning! Footprint mismatch for the part #" + rowName + ": " + oldRow[2] + " != " + row[2]
+            	print ("* Warning! Footprint mismatch for the part #" + rowName + ": " + oldRow[2] + " != " + row[2])
             	#sys.exit(3)
-            print "* Duplicates found for " + rowName + " (" + row[0] + ")! Merging..."
+            print ("* Duplicates found for " + rowName + " (" + row[0] + ")! Merging...")
             row[1] = oldRow[1] + row[1]
         rows[rowName] = row
         #for idx,item in enumerate(row):
         #    print idx , ": ", item
 
-print "Processing the board replacements..."
-replList = repl.split(";")
+replList = list()
+print ("Reading replacement list from the CSV file " + repl_csv + "...")
+with open(repl_csv, 'rb') as f:
+    reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter=',')
+    for row in reader:
+        # skip empty lines and comments (this is not strictly CSV-compliant, but useful for our purposes)
+        if (len(row) < 1 or row[0].startswith("#")):
+            continue
+        replList.append(row)
+
+print ("Processing the board replacements...")
 for r in replList:
-    rel = re.search("(\w+)=([\w\-]+)?,?([\w\-]+)?,?(\w+)?", r)
-    if not rel:
-    	continue
-    reDesignator = rel.group(1)
-    reComment = rel.group(2)
-    reFootprint = rel.group(3)
-    rePartNumber = rel.group(4)
+    reDesignator = r[0]
     for rowName in rows:
         row = rows[rowName]
         if reDesignator in row[1]:
-            print "* Removing " + reDesignator + " from the old row..."
+            print ("* Removing " + reDesignator + " from the old row...")
             row[1].remove(reDesignator)
             if not row[1]:
-                print "* Deleting an empty row..."
+                print ("* Deleting an empty row...")
                 del rows[rowName]
+    if len(r) < 4:
+        continue
+    reComment = r[1]
+    reFootprint = r[2]
+    rePartNumber = r[3]
     # find the matching row by partnumber (if set)
     if rePartNumber:
         if rePartNumber in rows:
-            print "* Adding " + reDesignator + " to another existing row..."
+            print ("* Adding " + reDesignator + " to another existing row...")
             rows[rePartNumber][1] += [reDesignator]
         else:
-            print "* Appending a new row for " + reDesignator + "..."
+            print ("* Appending a new row for " + reDesignator + "...")
             rows[rePartNumber] = [reComment, [reDesignator], reFootprint, rePartNumber]
 
-print "Saving..."
+print ("Saving...")
 with open (fileName, 'wb') as new_f:
     rowIdx = 0
     for rowName in rows:
@@ -90,4 +98,4 @@ with open (fileName, 'wb') as new_f:
             row[1] = ", ".join(row[1])
         writer.writerow(row)
         rowIdx += 1
-print "Done!"
+print ("Done!")
diff --git a/bin/process_board.py b/bin/process_board.py
index d44cd00..2a0df4d 100644
--- a/bin/process_board.py
+++ b/bin/process_board.py
@@ -11,16 +11,17 @@ import csv, re
 import subprocess
 
 if len(sys.argv) < 4:
-	print ("Error! Please specify the project base name, frame name, revision and optional BOM replacement list.")
+	print ("Error! Please specify the project base name, frame name, revision and optional BOM replacement file.")
 	sys.exit(1)
 
-project_base = sys.argv[1]
+project_base_path = sys.argv[1]
 frame_name = sys.argv[2]
 frame_rev = sys.argv[3]
+
 if len(sys.argv) > 3:
-	bom_replace = sys.argv[4]
+	bom_replace_csv = sys.argv[4]
 else:
-	bom_replace = ""
+	bom_replace_csv = ""
 
 board_prefix = "hellen"
 
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@ imageDpi = "600"
 # these should match the definitions in the parent shell script (create_board.sh)!
 project_name = board_prefix + frame_name
 board_name = project_name + "-" + frame_rev
-project_path = project_base + "/" + project_name + "/boards/" + board_name
+project_path = project_base_path + "/boards/" + board_name
+bom_replace_csv_path = project_base_path + "/" + bom_replace_csv
 frame_path = project_path + "/frame"
 board_path = project_path + "/board"
 board_path_name = board_path + "/" + board_name
@@ -297,9 +299,10 @@ p.communicate(input='y\n')[0]
 
 print ("Post-processing BOM...")
 try:
-	subprocess.check_output([sys.executable, "bin/process_BOM.py",
+	out = subprocess.check_output([sys.executable, "bin/process_BOM.py",
 		board_bom,
-		bom_replace])
+		bom_replace_csv_path], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+	print (out)
 except subprocess.CalledProcessError, e:
 	print ("BOM processing error:\n" + e.output)
 	sys.exit(2)