An upper bound elemental technique (UBET) is applied to predict variations of neutral plane and optimal position of the initial billet for rib-wep shaped ring forging. In the analysis, the neutral plane position and velocity fields are determined by minimizing the total power consump- tion with respect to chosen parameters. The degree of die-cavity filling by initial billet-position and the variations of neutral plane by friction condition are investigated. Experiments have been carried out with pure plasticine billets at room temperature. The theoretical predictions of the forging load and the flow pattern are in good agrement with the experimental results.