I think they call that blanching. Back almost 60 years ago when I worked at McDonalds we precooked our own fresh-cut fries to blanch them and save time on final cooking for sale.
The blanching step for fries is necessary for the finished fries to be both crisp and fully cooked; it’s not really to save time in the final frying. I worked at McD’s 50 years ago, and it was common to turn 1,000 lb. of fresh potatoes into fries on a busy Saturday.
In N Out cuts the potatoes right out in the open-—in front of the customers—down the line & into the french fryer.
Great fries !!!