Spot on. People seem to think that because they have flipped a switch, the plant is immediately flowering. If they were to sit back and watch how the plants react to the change, it takes a week for them to notice and then another week for them to start to do anything about it. Depending on the strain, it's maturity and the environment at the time, it could take up to 3 weeks for actual flowering to start. I have no actual scientific proof of this. This is all based on personal observation and experience.
I agree with you, that is about half way there. So on the basis it probably started flowering a couple of weeks into it's current 8 week cycle, that makes 6 weeks so far, meaning it has 6 weeks to go. 12 weeks seems to be about average for a plant to be actually ripe.
As to how to improve things, I'd like to know more about what is being done now. But on the face value of those pictures, I'd say the lighting and feeding need to be looked at and then some kind of basic training.