Both work. Neither is obviously better. The right answer depends on what the item is made of, where it lives, and who is holding the phone.
How each one actually works
A QR code is printed ink. The phone's camera reads a pattern and resolves it to a URL. It needs line of sight, enough light, and a surface clean enough for the pattern to be recognised.
NFC is a passive chip with no battery. Held within a couple of centimetres, the phone powers the chip inductively and reads the URL stored on it. No camera, no light, no line of sight.
Where QR wins
Cost. A QR code is printing. You can put one on every item, on the packaging, on the paperwork, and on the crimp collar for a fraction of what one NFC tag costs.
Universal reading. Any camera phone made in the last decade. No hardware question, no compatibility list.
Distance. You can scan a QR code on a hose reel from three feet away. NFC requires you to touch the thing.
Visual verification. A person can see whether the label is present and legible. A failed NFC tag looks identical to a working one.
Where NFC wins
Dirt. This is the big one for industrial parts. NFC reads through grease, hydraulic fluid, paint overspray and a layer of plant dust. A QR code under any of those is unreadable, and a partially damaged code often will not resolve at all.
Darkness and gloves. Works in an unlit aisle at five in the morning without removing a glove to steady a camera.
Proximity as evidence. A tap requires physical presence within a couple of centimetres. A QR code can be photographed once and scanned from that photo forever, from anywhere. If your record is meant to show somebody stood at the item, that difference matters.
Speed. Tap is faster than open camera, aim, wait for focus, confirm.
The metal problem
Worth its own heading because it catches people out. A standard NFC inlay stuck directly to steel will detune and read badly or not at all. Industrial parts are mostly steel.
The fix is an on-metal tag, which includes a ferrite isolation layer between the chip and the surface. They cost more and they are thicker. If a vendor quotes you standard inlays for use on fittings, couplings or crimped collars, they have not thought about it.
Durability, both ways
For QR, the failure mode is abrasion and contamination. Laser-marked stainless plates survive where printed labels do not. Under a clear polyester laminate, a printed code lasts considerably longer.
For NFC, the failure mode is physical destruction of the chip or antenna: crushing, cutting, high heat. Check the ingress rating if items get pressure-washed, and check both ends of the temperature range if you supply into cold storage and outdoor yards.
The answer most operations land on
Both, on the same tag.
NFC as the primary interaction, because it is faster and survives the environment. A printed QR beside it as the fallback, for the phone that will not read the chip, for the visitor with an unfamiliar device, and for the case where the chip has died and nobody would otherwise know.
It costs slightly more per tag and removes an entire category of support call.
What neither of them does
Neither proves an inspection happened. Both open a page. A person can tap or scan and click through every checkbox without looking at the item.
What the tag removes is the excuse for the record not existing, and the wrong-item error that comes from choosing a form off a clipboard or typing a part number by hand. That error is the most common data quality failure in field inspection: the right inspection recorded against the wrong item.
Choose based on environment. Do not expect either one to create diligence.