Abstract: A process for manufacturing a forged connecting rod of the type including a big end, a shank and a small end. A connecting rod rough forging, free of lateral flash and including at least one bore initiator on the big end and on the small end, is manufactured by forging. The connecting rod rough forging is sized, content-wise, by plating the connecting rod rough forging between two inserts inside a die in order to obtain a sized connecting rod rough forging.

Abstract: A facility for hot forging workpieces starting from bars (2), which includes a device (8) for heating the bars (2), a device (3) for longitudinally moving the bars, a shearing machine (9) cutting hot billets to a length l, and a stop (11) for setting the billet length and a device for holding the cut billet. A device is also provided for detecting the ends of the bars (2) and a device (10) for rejecting the billets which have a length shorter than l. The detection device includes at least one sensor (12) of the image of the adjoining or nonadjoining ends of the bars, which device is placed a distance L from the shearing machine (9), and a computer for determining the number n=L/l of billets starting from the detected end wherein the computer is connected, on the one hand, to the sensor and, on the other hand, to a device (5) for measuring the length L.sub.1 of the bars.