"Asking for a friend": could those of you who have good cold side processes talk about your process?
If you're talking post chill and once in fermenter, here's what I do...
Move to fermenting location (temperature stable room or chamber).
Infuse wort with pure O2.
Pitch yeast (typically from a starter process).
Seal fermenter (I use converted/adapted commercial kegs).
Either fit with airlock/blow-off hose or spunding valve (fermenting under pressure for the past couple of batches, liking it).
Leave it the F alone for 2-4 weeks, or until it's finished and enough time has one past for the yeast to flocculate out of suspension.
Transfer to serving/carbonating keg with CO2 push.
Move to keezer for chill and carbonate (~2 weeks at serving pressure/temperature).
Enjoy.
I've been using CO2 pushes to move my finished beer for a long time. I have TC caps made that fit directly onto the keg openings that allow me to do this easily. My 50L fermenter (or 13.3 gallon) was fitted with a 4" TC ferrule when I set it up. The matching cap has both gas and liquid fittings, plus a thermowell. I use a temperature sensor to tell me what's going on inside the beer.
Since I started using the spunding valve, I've not needed a blow-off hose at all. I set the valve to vent at about 14psi and just let it run. I have the outlet tube on the assemble going into a small (plastic) jar with Starsan solution in it so that I can see gas movement. Since my fermenters are 100% sealed (zero chance of leaks) this is a valid sign. I still give it time it needs to finish (I don't rush things). My fermentation chamber doesn't (yet) have a heat source, just cooling. I might add a heat element to it at some point, but I've not needed to yet. If nothing else, I'll just close it up and allow the fermenting beer to warm it.
Also, if I want more hop flavor/aroma in a batch, I add hops into the serving keg before it goes for chill/carbonate. I've left those in for a few months without issue. I do have the lids with the tab welded to them that will allow me to suspend stainless mesh hop infusion items for these recipes moving forward. No more rinsing/cleaning the nylon mesh bags for me.
I also chill my wort with a 12" long, 40 plate, plate chiller. One of the best things I did for the brewing process.
I ONLY move my beer to another vessel (that's not for serving/carbonating) IF I'm going to age it for XX weeks (or longer). No "secondary fermenter" used. When I do move it to an aging vessel, it's moved via CO2 push (bottom to bottom via dip tubes) and then the headspace is fully purged with CO2 (multiple times to ensure I remove as much O2 as is possible without going insane). Even with using CO2 pushes and such, I move my beer as little as possible.
Another benefit of my method is once the yeast is pitched, the fermenter isn't moved (at all) until I've transferred the finished beer out of it. No lifting it to syphon out the beer, for any reason. I also haven't used a syphon in ages (got rid of mine many years ago now). I use a simple keg to keg jumper (beer ball lock fittings and clear tubing) for the transfers (swivel nut fittings). Makes things much easier on me. especially when I need to move 9 gallons of beer out of the 50L fermenter alone.