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Jan 6, 2026

Automating Labor Hours to Labor Cost in Oracle Fusion Projects

Organizations using Oracle Fusion HCM and Oracle Fusion Projects often underestimate the complexity involved in converting approved employee time into accurate, auditable project labor costs.

While Oracle provides standard capabilities such as HCM Extracts, FBDI, and Import Cost ESS jobs, enterprise implementations typically require:

  • Multi-step data enrichment.
  • Custom validations and business rules.
  • Transaction-level error handling.
  • End-to-end traceability

This blog presents a production-grade integration architecture designed and implemented by Bizinsight Consulting Inc, leveraging Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) and Oracle ATP to automate the full labor costing lifecycle.

 Business Scenario

  1. Employees enter and submit time in Oracle Fusion HCM
  2. Time is approved through standard HCM workflows
  3. Approved labor hours must be:
    • Validated against business rules.
    • Enriched with employee and project data.
    • Converted into labor cost.
    • Imported into Oracle Fusion Projects
  4. Any failed transactions must be:
    • Identified automatically.
    • Logged at transaction level.
    • Reported to support teams

High-Level Architecture Overview

This solution is built around three orchestrated OIC integrations, with Oracle ATP acting as a staging, validation, and control layer.

Key Components

  • Oracle Fusion HCM
  • Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC).
  • Oracle ATP.
  • Oracle Fusion Projects.
  • BI Publisher (BIP).
  • FBDI & ESS Jobs

End-to-End Integration Flow

Step 1: Extract Approved Labor Hours from Oracle HCM

  • Users enter and approve time in Oracle Fusion HCM
  • A scheduled HCM Extract:
    • Extracts approved labor hours
    • Generates a ZIP file
    • Uploads the output to Oracle UCM

This approach is Oracle-recommended for high-volume, auditable data extraction.

Step 2: OIC Job #1 – HCM Extract Processing & Validation

This integration is responsible for data ingestion, enrichment, and validation.

2.1 Read and Validate HCM Extract File

  • OIC connects to the UCM server
  •  Picks the latest ZIP file generated by the HCM Extract
  •  Unzips the file
  • Validates file content:
    • If the file is empty, the process stops gracefully
    • If the file contains data, processing continues

2.2 Load Raw Labor Hours into ATP

The extracted data is loaded into the custom staging table:XXBIZ_INT999_HCM_EXTRACT. 

This table stores:

  • Raw labor hour data
  • Extract metadata
  • Processing status indicators

2.3 Enrich Data Using BI Publisher Reports

OIC then executes a BI Publisher report to extract additional employee-related data from HCM.

The enriched data is loaded into: XXBIZ_INT999_EMP_DETAILS.This step ensures the availability of:

  • Employee attributes
  • Assignment information
  • Costing-related metadata

2.4 Custom Validation & Processing in ATP

Once all required data is staged, OIC invokes a PL/SQL API in ATP to:

  • Perform custom business validations
  • Apply transformation rules
  • Resolve data dependencies
  • Load validated records into: XXBIZ_INT999_LABOR_HRS

Only validated and business-approved records are eligible for cost import.

 Step 3: OIC Job #2 – Import Labor Cost into Oracle Projects

This integration handles labor cost creation.

3.1 Prepare FBDI Files

  • OIC reads validated records from XXBIZ_INT999_LABOR_HRS.
  • Generates:
    • Labor Cost data file
    • Properties/control file
  • Files strictly conform to Oracle Projects Import Labor Cost FBDI templates

3.2 Submit Import Labor Cost ESS Job

  • OIC invokes the Import Labor Cost ESS job
  • ESS request details are captured for monitoring
  • Labor cost records are created asynchronously in Oracle Fusion Projects

Step 4: OIC Job #3 – Event-Driven Callback & Error Handling

To ensure reliable monitoring, we have implemented an event-driven callback pattern.

4.1 Subscribe to Import Completion Event

  • OIC subscribes to “Receive Call Message upon completion of FBDI Import”
  •  No polling, no timing assumptions

4.2 Process ESS Output Files

After job completion:

  • OIC downloads output ZIP files.
  • Unzips and analyzes log and result files.
  • Validates output filenames



Failure Handling: If a file named FailedRecords exists:Failed transactions are parsed, corresponding records are updated in ATP with Status = E and notifications are sent to the Integration Support Team

Success Handling: If no failed records are found: Files are archived and records are updated with: Status = S

This ensures transaction-level visibility and traceability.

 Role of Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC)

OIC acts as the central orchestration platform, providing:

  • HCM Adapter for UCM and extract access.
  • BI Publisher Adapter for data enrichment.
  • ATP Adapter for staging and validation.
  • ERP Cloud Adapter for FBDI & ESS execution.
  • Event subscriptions for real-time monitoring

All with minimal custom code.




How Bizinsight Consulting Can Help

Bizinsight Consulting Inc specializes in designing and delivering enterprise-grade Oracle integrations, including:

  • Oracle Fusion HCM & Projects integrations.
  • FBDI, ESS, and BIP–based automation.
  • ATP-based validation and control frameworks.
  • Error handling, reprocessing, and audit design

Final Note

Labor cost automation is not just about moving data—it’s about control, accuracy, and recoverability. With the right architecture and expertise, Oracle Integration Cloud can transform a complex process into a reliable enterprise capability.

  • Our consultants can help you design a scalable, resilient, and supportable solution.
  • Contact us: inquiry@bizinsightinc.com.
  • Website: Submit feedback or inquiries through our website