A digital model is presented for the purpose of design, manufacture and measurement of hypoid gear, based on the non-uniform rational B-spline surface (NURBS) method. The digital model and the function-oriented active design technique are combined to form a new design method for hypoid gears. The method is well adaptable to CNC bevel gear cutting machines and CNC-controlled gear inspection machines, and can be used to create the initial machine tool cutting location data or program measurement path. The presented example verifies the method is correct.