Tokai Rika Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Tokai Rika") is a world-leading manufacturer and seller of automotive components, including human interface parts that comfortably translate human intent to vehicles, as well as switches, shifters, keys, and seat belts.
AsiaQuest has consistently provided support for visualizing and optimizing log costs in Tokai Rika's AWS environment. Through this engagement, we have achieved reduced operational burden and strengthened governance by clarifying cost structures, building an automated transfer infrastructure, and establishing a log analysis platform.
As Tokai Rika expanded its cloud usage, AWS costs grew beyond initial projections, becoming a significant concern. In particular, log ingestion fees for log management services surged, with monthly log storage and ingestion costs reaching thousands of dollars.
While the direction for improvement was clear, limited internal resources made it difficult to move forward with implementation. Beyond simple cost reduction, the company also needed a redesign aligned with best practices and a structure that could support continuous improvement without increasing operational burden.
The deciding factor was AsiaQuest's ability to provide end-to-end "accompaniment support" — from current-state analysis through improvement proposals and implementation — which led to this project engagement.
AsiaQuest handled everything from billing investigation to proposing and implementing improvements. A team of one project leader and two systems engineers worked collaboratively with the client's engineers on fundamental design reviews and technical decisions. Weekly meetings and real-time information sharing via a progress management tool enabled responsive issue resolution.
①Automated Transfer Infrastructure
Designed and implemented a mechanism using Step Functions and Lambda to automatically transfer audit logs and other records requiring long-term retention to the more cost-effective Amazon S3. Retry processing and error handling were built in to prevent transfer gaps, resulting in a significant reduction in log ingestion costs.
②Storage Class Optimization
Analyzed log characteristics and migrated to CloudWatch Logs Infrequent Access class, lowering the per-unit cost of ingestion.
③Log Retention Period Optimization
Bulk-changed previously "unlimited" retention settings to approximately 14–30 days based on business requirements, contributing to a reduction in storage costs.
④Log Analysis Infrastructure
Built a platform using Athena and Glue that enables instant SQL-based search and analysis of logs stored in S3, achieving both cost reduction and improved search convenience. Clients gave high marks not only for cost savings but also for the improved operational usability through enhanced searchability.
|
Layer |
Technology Used |
| Log collection & automated transfer | CloudWatch Logs + Step Functions + Lambda（Python） |
| Cost-optimized storage | Amazon S3（IA）+ CloudWatch Logs（IA） |
| Log analysis & search | Amazon Athena + AWS Glue |
| Anomaly detection & notification | Amazon SNS + CloudWatch Alarms |
| Security | AWS KMS / IAM |
The following outcomes were achieved through concrete investigation and configuration changes.
Cost Rationalization: Visualized projected savings on persistently elevated log-related costs and achieved rapid cost reduction.
Maintenance Efficiency: Automated log organization eliminated the need for manual management and resolved concerns over storage capacity constraints.
Focus on Development: Offloading specialized technical challenges to an external partner provided internal engineers with an environment where they could dedicate themselves to their core development work.
Knowledge Accumulation: Information sharing through technical consultations and regular meetings promoted the growth of internal knowledge around cloud utilization.
Developers are no longer required to individually manage or configure log costs and storage capacity. During day-to-day investigations, running SQL queries through Amazon Athena enables instant search and analysis of logs dating back several months. Additionally, when new accounts are provisioned, simply following the standard configuration defined by AsiaQuest immediately delivers a security-assured environment.
Time spent worrying about monthly fluctuations in AWS usage costs has been significantly reduced. Furthermore, with log management rules now unified, a governance structure is in place that keeps costs from ballooning even as the system scales in the future.
The knowledge gained through this optimization will be extended to other systems and applied across the organization's broader cloud utilization. AsiaQuest will continue pursuing efficiencies in existing systems and evaluating the adoption of the latest IT technologies, while also contributing on the technical front to the growth of service platforms (such as Bqey, Uqey, and others) that underpin "value creation in new domains (mobility services)" outlined in the mid-term management plan "TRV2030" targeting 2030, as well as the company-wide digital transformation initiative "TRX (Tokai Rika Transformation)."
AsiaQuest will continue as a partner supporting Tokai Rika's business growth from a technical standpoint, working together to build an increasingly robust and flexible system environment.
This project marked our first opportunity to work alongside AsiaQuest, and I was deeply impressed by their approach — specifically, their commitment to thoroughly understanding the customer's challenges and their stance of working toward solutions from the same perspective as the customer. Even when their feedback was difficult for us to hear, they consistently offered clear, concrete recommendations in order to achieve our objectives and goals, and they have truly proven themselves as a dependable partner. As a result, they drew on their extensive experience across numerous projects and the wealth of knowledge accumulated within their organization to point out issues we ourselves had not noticed, and for that I am truly grateful. We intend to continue working with AsiaQuest as a trusted partner as we advance the development of various services going forward.
Hiroyuki Miyabe
Group Leader, Infrastructure Group, Service Development Division
New Business Development Department, Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.
Our relationship began with a conversation at AsiaQuest's booth at AWS Summit, which ultimately led us to entrust them with this project. From our very first meeting and consistently throughout the project, what struck me most was their approach of genuinely understanding our actual situation and thinking through challenges together with us. That, above all else, was what made them stand out.
We had previously explored ways to reduce log costs internally, but proposals from other vendors mostly fell short — they tended to push their own products, or suggest feature reductions that exceeded our operational tolerance, failing to strike a balance with real-world operations and offering little beyond what we had already considered internally.
AsiaQuest, by contrast, took the time to thoroughly understand how our systems were actually being operated, as well as the background behind frameworks and measures that had been considered and rejected in the past. On that foundation, they delivered a genuinely valuable proposal — not a theoretical exercise, but one grounded in measured data and balancing both cost-effectiveness and feasibility.
I am truly grateful to have worked with such a reassuring team, one capable of presenting solid, practical solutions while keeping pace with the latest technologies. We look forward to a long-lasting relationship with AsiaQuest as our "reliable partner" supporting our cloud initiatives going forward.
Yasuhiro Morishita
Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Group, Service Development Division
New Business Development Department, Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.