Integrating Proxy Workflows for 4K+ Footage: Seeking Advice

Hey everyone,

I'm a Key Grip currently working a narrative short shot on an ALEXA Mini, and it's all high-res 4K+. Our DIT has been swamped, and frankly, managing the volume of raw footage for post has become a real bottleneck. I'm trying to wrap my head around how to efficiently use proxies because everything I've seen suggests it's crucial for speed, especially with larger files.

Right now, our process is basically ingesting everything, and then trying to get an editor a drive. There's no systematic proxy generation happening. It's just massive files getting moved around, which is slowing everything down from dailies to the actual edit.

For those of you regularly dealing with 4K+ footage, how do you integrate proxy generation and management into your on-set or post-ingest process? What are your workflows for getting those optimized files to editorial quickly and painlessly, while making sure everything relinks correctly down the line? I'm looking for practical advice on what works in the field.